Send Gift Baskets to Usera, Spain

March 28, 1987, was the date of the city restructuring that created the district. The community was formed from the northern part of the Villaverde district and the abolished Mediodia district.

Located in the north of the district, the district is named after the Usera neighborhood. The neighborhood traces its origins to some land in the north of Villaverde that belonged to “Tio Sordillo,” a farmer from the municipality whose daughter married Colonel Marcelo Usera. According to the Colonel, the development of this land would be more profitable than cultivation, so the land was divided into plots and sold between 1925 and 1930.

Colonel Marcelo’s administrator was responsible for delineating and laying out the streets. He named several streets after members of the Usera family, his service personnel, and neighbors. Isabelita, Amparo, and Gabriel Usera are examples of streets named this way.

In the late 1930s, Usera gained notoriety for its so-called Usera Tunnel scam, which resulted in the deaths of at least 67 people.

In the 1960s, Usera overgrew with immigrants, mainly from rural areas in the rest of Spain, establishing a new network of commercial and service industries. Insecurity and drug addiction negatively affected the district from the 1980s onwards.

However, Usera has been revitalized by becoming Madrid’s Chinatown since the 2000s. With the arrival of thousands of Chinese families, the neighborhood has changed completely, and safety has increased. A little over 11,000 Chinese citizens live in Usera, reproducing its business models, traditions, gastronomy, and festivals.