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Entrevías: postcards from Madrid’s poorest neighborhood

New data shows that residents of this southern district earn an annual average of €17,476, the lowest income of the 54 zip codes in the Spanish capital

Madrid - Jan 22, 2019 - 13:04CET

A woman walks by San Carlos Borromeo parish church, known for the activism of its priests in defense of the marginalized.Andrea Comas (EL PAÍS)

A storefront in Entrevías. New data has highlighted the income inequality in Madrid, where there is a large gap between the north and the south. Incomes in Entrevías, in the south of the city, are almost four times lower than those of the Salamanca district.Andrea Comas

José “Curro” Bastante, 58, who is unemployed, poses with Antonio Manzano, 42. Bastante (l) says he supports his three underage children with his unemployment benefit of €430.Andrea Comas

A residential building in Entrevías, which was a magnet for migrants from other parts of Spain in the 1950s.Andrea Comas

In Entrevías, it is common to see migrants and Spaniards form couples. Spaniard Borja Cayuela, 28, his Ecuadorian girlfriend Estefany Pinto, 30, and her mother, Olga Morocho, 55, pose for a photo.Andrea Comas

A woman walks past storefronts. In the Entrevías and San Diego neighborhoods, there are more than 4,000 recipients of the Minimum Insertion Income, a public subsidy for Spain’s poorest citizens.Andrea Comas

Antonio José Castaño “Toñín,” 49, who runs the bar El Rincón de Toñín in Entrevías. “Toñín” recalls that a little over two years ago, Queen Letizia of Spain dropped by to say hello after visiting a nearby non-profit.Andrea Comas

An ad for an apartment on sale. At the height of the property boom, when it seemed that Entrevías might gentrify, some people bought three-bedroom apartments for €300,000. These days, they are worth a third of that, says Pilar López, who owns the real estate agency Entrefincas.Andrea Comas

Angie López, 19, from Ecuador, runs the family store La Sazón Guayaca, which is one of the newer stores opened by immigrants in Entrevías. Immigrants make up 20% of the neighborhood.Andrea Comas

A barbershop in Entrevías. Many residents say they have not noticed any economic recovery, not even after a leftist mayor, Manuela Carmena, took office in 2015 with widespread support from voters in Entrevías and San Diego.Andrea Comas

A plaque designating a subsidized housing project built during the Franco regime.Andrea Comas

María José Simón, 54, is a cook for a preschool. Like many in the neighborhood, she complains that many have an exaggerated perception of the community's problems.Andrea Comas

A train entering Entrevías station. Residents say that one of the upsides of living here is that rent is relatively cheap yet they are a short distance away from downtown Madrid thanks to the rail link.Andrea Comas

Taxi driver Juan Pedro Nieto, 42, says that many of his friends have moved away. “They have gone to Vallecas or the suburbs. There are only two of us left here from our group of friends.”Andrea Comas

A patron of the Rincón de Toñín bar looks out the door. “Here there almost more bars than people,” jokes the owner.Andrea Comas

Maruja Gómez Uribe, 48, from Ecuador, and Sergio González Blanco, 43, from Madrid, run the Dos Ángeles bar. They sell CDs for €3 and Alhambra beer for €1.Andreas Comas

Pilar López, 58, has been running a small real estate agency called Entrefincas for 18 years.Andrea Comas

Vallecas district councilor Francisco Pérez says they are trying to alleviate the consequences of an economic model that accentuates inequality. He quotes a report by the non-profit Oxfam Intermón: “The crisis has favored the wealthy four times more than the poor, and inequality among the various territories has also increased.”Andrea Comas