Send Gift Baskets to Moratalaz, Spain

During the 1960s, Moratalaz developed as a commuter suburb of Madrid. Elvira Lindo, Melendi, el Dioni, Alejandro Sanz, “Cleanhead” Joe McGaha, and Letizia Ortiz were all famous residents of the district.

Until 1960, Moratalaz was a small agglomeration of barely 40 houses with only one paved street. The cemetery was located midway between Madrid’s main cemetery, Cementerio de la Almudena, and Vallecas, which was unincorporated then.

A housing project in Moratalaz developed in the 1960s was Colonia Del Ferrocarril. Moratalaz grew as the Madrid-Arganda del Rey train stopped there.

A military property gave rise to one of the main streets of the district, Calle Del Pico De Los Artilleros. Moratalaz’s main avenue, Camino De Los Vinateros, is derived from an old road that linked Madrid and Castilla La Mancha.

Construction company Urbis and the Ministry of Housing were responsible for extraordinary and uncontrolled development in the 1970s. In Moratalaz, traffic lanes are separated from houses by a vast green zone, creating typical wide avenues and open spaces. As an excellent measure against noise pollution, this concept was rare in the ’70s, but it is much appreciated today.

Several older blocks dating from Franco’s dictatorship still display the distinctive emblem of Public Housing (a yoke traversed by arrows).

Valencian Antonio Galbis holds the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest paella 100,000 people enjoyed in Moratalaz in 2001. A 400 m2 (4,300 ft) paella pan, cranes, rakes, 6,000 kg (13,000 lb) rice, 12,500 kg (27,600 lb) chicken and rabbit, 5,000 kg (11,000 lb) vegetables, 11,000 L (2,400 imp gal) virgin olive oil, 300 kg (660 lb) salt, 26 kg (57 lb) paprika (smoked paprika), 16 kg (35 lb) annatto and a kilogram of ground saffron were used in this dish.