Less than half of the Campamento neighborhood’s land area is developed. The rest of the landscape is dominated by military installations, which occupy more than 90% of the undeveloped land. This urban planning anomaly—which leaves the area constrained and isolated by major thoroughfares such as the A-5, the M-40, and the Boadilla Highway—is the setting for one of Spain’s most significant urban regeneration plans. The project calls for the construction of 10,000 housing units, 7,000 of which will be designated for affordable rental and public housing, with the goal of integrating this area into the urban fabric by 2031.
A project with decades of delays and broken promises
Known as “Operation Campamento,” the project has a long history of failed attempts. The idea of dismantling the barracks to build housing and offices began to take shape in 1989 through a proposed agreement between the Ministry of Defense and the Community of Madrid, which stalled due to a lack of financial agreement. From then on, the development became an intermittent project. In 1994, the regional government rejected a new agreement between the City Council and the Ministry. Subsequently, investments were announced in 2004 and new plans in 2009, all of which were systematically stalled, leaving a vast urban void on the outskirts of the capital.
From grazing land to a military training center
Before becoming filled with military uniforms, the land on the outskirts of the former municipalities of Carabanchel Alto and Carabanchel Bajo was used primarily for grazing livestock. Military use began in the late 18th century with the establishment of a gunpowder depot. Regular military exercises began in the mid-19th century, leading to the construction of the barracks that eventually gave the neighborhood its name. Around this activity, homes, taverns, and shops sprang up to serve the soldiers, forming the original fabric of the neighborhood.
Campamento ’s history is marked by unique events. In 1886, a devastating tornado swept through the area, leaving 47 dead—an event that the writer Benito Pérez Galdós immortalized in his novel *Misericordia*. A century later, in 1992, a massive explosion at a munitions depot generated a shock wave powerful enough to shatter windows at the Royal Palace. Furthermore, for decades the area served as the destination where thousands of young people completed their mandatory military service in buildings rebuilt after the Civil War. As early as the 1920s, the arrival of the streetcar had attempted to connect this area with the city center, although traffic isolation eventually prevailed with the construction of modern highways.
Today, as it awaits the excavators that will permanently transform its landscape, Campamento’s vitality endures in its long-standing establishments. A popular gathering spot is the Bodeguita Casa Lifu, an establishment known in the area for its hearty torreznos—which require four hours in the oven before being deep-fried—and for its traditional servings of pig’s ear in sauce.