Alcalá de Henares faces the biggest urban transformation of the last decades with the recovery and reconversion of the land of the former Roca factory, located a stone’s throw from the historic center and next to O’Donnell Park. This industrial space, underutilized for years, will become a new “eco-neighborhood” and has been christened Roca City. It will add between 2,500 and 3,000 new homes, of which at least 500 will be reserved for public or subsidized housing in accordance with the law.
The plan was officially presented yesterday, October 29, by Mayor Judith Piquet, who defines it as “the most important urban project of the last decades”. The intervention includes more than 80,000 m² of green areas and facilities, new public squares, commercial spaces, sports areas and school facilities, with an estimated investment of more than 100 million euros provided by the City Council and Roca itself. The project will seek to maintain part of the company’s industrial legacy and provide the neighborhood with an identity and architectural reference, recalling its historical role since 1961 as a pole of local development.
Roca City, the new Alcalá de Henares neighborhood
The new neighborhood aims to be a model of sustainable urban regeneration, which will be integrated through a green corridor with O’Donnell Park, the city wall and the city center, improving pedestrian and cyclist mobility and focusing on energy efficiency solutions and advanced water and waste management. Part of the land will be dedicated to facilities, with more than 12,000 square meters for school use and another 27,000 square meters for municipal and social uses, according to the City Council.
Although the project still has to go through procedures such as the specific modification of the General Urban Development Plan, scheduled for early 2026, and the final technical preparation, the roadmap already contemplates that the first relocation, urbanization and construction processes could begin in two years, with a view to delivering the first homes at the end of the decade.