The love of soccer is already part of Madrid’s cultural identity. It manifests itself in the form of stadiums, multitudinous celebrations, supporters clubs and streets in homage to the city’s most important teams. Yes, there is a Real Madrid street and an Atlético street. Both in the district of Carabanchel.
Although Carabanchel has always been considered colchonero territory, the truth is that it has supporters clubs of both the red and white team and its eternal rival. In 2008 there were six Atletico clubs – among them the Rincón del Greco (Avenida de Nuestra Señora de Fátima, 98) and the bar El Cazador, known as Distrito 25 (Avenida de Abrantes, 36) – and another six Real Madrid clubs.
The presence of soccer fans in the neighborhood is not only in the peñas. It even has its own team: the Real Club Deportivo Carabanchel, which is more than 100 years old. It is the third oldest club in the Community of Madrid, surpassing Rayo Vallecano (founded in 1926 and yes, it can also boast a street named after it in Vallecas).
For all this, it is not surprising that there is an Atlético de Madrid street in Buenavista. The curious thing is that this street, a few minutes walk from the San Francisco station, is a neighbor of Real Madrid despite the tense relationship it has always had with the team.
Buenavista is a relatively new area of Madrid: it was founded in the fifties as a working class neighborhood and served to accommodate workers arriving from other autonomous communities, especially Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha and Extremadura. Perhaps because of the expansion of Madrid at this time it was decided to baptize another street in the neighborhood as Real Betis, although the city archives have not confirmed this.