Leganes

Leganés is a Spanish city and municipality that forms part of the Community of Madrid. It is located within the metropolitan area of Madrid and is located eleven kilometers southwest of the capital. Its population is 187,720 inhabitants (INE 2017), which makes it the fifth most populous town in Madrid and the thirty-third largest in the country.

It is located on a plain in the Central Plateau of the Iberian Peninsula, crossed by the Butarque stream, a tributary of the Manzanares river. It limits to the north with the Madrid districts of Carabanchel and La Latina, to the west with Alcorcón, to the east with Getafe and the district of Villaverde, and to the south with Fuenlabrada.

Founded in 1280 as "Legamar" during the reign of Alfonso X el Sabio, years later it adopted the current place name, and in 1345 it was incorporated as a village in the suburbs of Madrid. In 1627 it became a manor town when the King Felipe IV created the Marquisate of Leganés, and it remained as such until the feudal privileges were abolished in 1820.

In the middle of the XX century, and like other towns near Madrid, Leganés experienced a large population growth due to immigration from other Spanish regions, becoming a commuter town where most of the residents worked in the capital. Over time, Leganés has developed its own offer of public services, industries and shops of great importance for the Community of Madrid.

The town has historic buildings such as the old Santa Isabel Psychiatric Hospital, opened in 1851 as one of the first mental hospitals in the country; the Royal Walloon Guards Barracks, designed by Francisco Sabatini in the XVIII and which today is used by the Carlos III University of Madrid; and an ecclesiastical heritage that includes the hermitage of Polvoranca and a Baroque altarpiece by José de Churriguera. In the municipality is the Polvoranca Park, one of the largest semi-urban parks in the Community of Madrid.

Toponymy

The Relations of Francisco Antonio de Lorenzana (1784) include a description of the name of the town, which has been assumed by the Leganés City Council as official. The following text has been taken from the updated edition of the Relaciones topográficas de Felipe II, coordinated by Alfredo Alvar Ezquerra:

"In the first chapter they answer and declare that this people is named "Leganes", which name they said to proceed, according to news for the ancients of it, because on the site of it, while it was founded, there was a lagoon, it became a lot legamo, and then when it was founded they called it "Legamar", and after this word Legamar took the name of Leganblos for corruption of the word. »

On the other hand, the historian Ángel Fernández de los Ríos established that the names "Leganés" and "Leganitos" come from the Arabic words algannet ("huertas") and alganit ("of the orchards"), respectively.

The official name of Leganés is "leganense". However, the colloquial term "pepinero" is also widely used among the population. Its origin dates back to the time when it was an agricultural town that supplied the capital with vegetables. The most famous was the cucumber, origin of the nickname of its inhabitants. This has been maintained despite the fact that there are almost no orchards left in the city.

Symbols

Shield

The official coat of arms of Leganés was initially approved on March 15, 1962, although its origins date back to 1895. Over time it has undergone slight modifications, such as the shape of the crown. Currently, it consists of a royal crown of Spain and two barracks. The first barracks shows the weapons of the first Marquis of Leganés, Don Diego Mexía Felípez de Guzmán: two scaled cauldrons, sable ermines, and a castilla y León border. The second quarter represents the lagoon on whose fertile soil the town settled.

The original version of 1962, approved by the Council of Ministers, had a marquis crown and followed the following coat of arms:

"Short shield: first, housed in sotuer; first and fourth, of sugar, jaquelada de gules and gold, gringolada de seven heads de sierpe de sinople, in each asa; second and third, of silver, with five armies of saber; embroidery composed of "Castilla" and León (Guzmán). Second of azur, the silver lagoon. To the bell, Marquesal Crown. »

Official State Gazette No. 77 of 30 March 1962

The approval of the modified version of the shield, in which the marquis crown is changed for a real one, dates from May 8, 1985. The emblazonment is as follows:

"Short shield: 1st housed in sotuer; first and fourth, of sugar, with slashed boiler in gules and gold, garnish of seven heads of sierpe of sierp in each asa; second and third of silver, five armies of sable; embroidered with chestnuts and lions; second of blue with silver lagoon. To the bell, royal crown, closed, which is a circle of gold engraved of precious stones, composed of eight varnishes of acant leaves, visible five, interpolated of pearls, which converge in a world of azur, with the semi-meridian and the equator of gold, added of gold cross. The crown lined with gules. »

Official Gazette of the Madrid Community No. 129 of 1 June 1985

Flag

The Leganés flag was created by the official chronicler of the town, Juan Antonio Alonso Resalt, at the request of the mayor Fernando Abad Bécquer. The Royal Academy of History approved his work on March 15, 1985, the date from which it has been used. It consists of the shield of the town, located in the center, on a light blue background. For its creation, the herald that appears in the painting Relief in the Plaza de Lleida in 1646 by Pieter Snayers, available at the Prado Museum, was taken as a model. Said herald accompanied the Marquis of Leganés, hence it was taken as a reference. The heraldic description is as follows:

"The flag of Leganés bears a turquoise blue cloth on the entire surface, with a proportion of three to the flight (long) by two to the batiente (width), and in its center is the coat of arms of the villa. »

Anthem

The third symbol of the city is its own anthem, composed in 1980 with a score by Manuel Rodríguez Sales (founder and former director of the School of Music) and lyrics by Pedro Cordero Alvarado.

History

Foundation

Although the foundation of Leganés dates back to the 13th century, it is believed that the previous settlements have been inhabited by all the civilizations that have passed through the Iberian Peninsula, given the abundance of water. In the vicinity of Polvoranca, traces of the Upper Paleolithic have been found, while remains of the pre-Roman and Visigothic times have also been found in the Butarque stream.

The town was founded in 1280 during the reign of Alfonso X the Wise when residents of the towns of Butarque and Overa left to live in another area, fleeing from bad odors and epidemics caused by the nearby lagoons. Then it was integrated into the Aravaca sexmo. These people settled near a silt and the new area was renamed "Legamar" or "Leganar". Over time, the official name became the current "Leganés".

Leganés was incorporated in 1345 as a village in the suburbs of Madrid, on which it depended administratively for almost three centuries. Being within five leagues of the town of Madrid, it was considered a royal village. During that Leganés period lived, like other places, under a feudalist economy with subsistence agricultural exploitation.

In 1368 a resident of Legan, Domingo Muñoz, along with two relatives who were on guard at the two towers of the Puerta de los Moros, helped Henry II of Castile win the victory in his confrontation for the conquest of Madrid, by open the gates of the wall and thus allow the entry of the Trastámara into the city.

Infant John of Austria lived in Leganés between 1551 and 1554

During the XVI century the construction of the hermitages on the La Mora estate (1528), Nuestra Señora de Butarque (1536) and San Cristóbal (1579). The most notable event of that time was the arrival in 1551 of Juan de Austria, son of King Carlos I of Spain, when he was three years old. His father wanted him to grow up in Spain under the care of Francisco Massy, a court musician, and his wife Ana de Medina, who owned land in the town. Upon arriving there, he is mistaken for Massy's bastard son and the locals nickname him "Jeromín". However, in the summer of 1554 he was transferred to Villagarcía de Campos (Valladolid) so that Magdalena de Ulloa, wife of the butler Don Luis de Quijada, would take charge of his education.

From village to ancestry

In 1626 Leganés went from being a royal village to becoming an ancestor, when it was sold by the Crown to Diego Mexía Felípez de Guzmán, Viscount of Butarque. On March 15, 1627, King Felipe IV signed a Royal Decree by which the independence of Madrid took place to become a "villa de señorío", with the creation of the Marquisate of Leganés. Diego Mexía thus became the Marquis and Viscount of Butarque.

The town of Leganés began to have its own town hall and aldermen. As owner and lord of those lands, the marquis was the only one with the power to appoint mayors, administer justice, set taxes, and designate the municipal administration. For more than two centuries his descendants maintained control, until their feudal privileges were abolished in 1820. Some families, such as the Medinaceli and the Tamames, established their residence there, in many cases with summer homes.

It is worth highlighting the presence of Juan Muñoz, a nobleman from an influential family in the region and a local nobleman. When he died in 1623, he left in his will that part of his fortune was used to create a hospital for the poor in Leganés and Villaverde. Today, the main street of the old town and a social center are named after him.

The 18th century saw the inauguration of important local heritage attractions. In 1700 the opening of the Church of San Salvador took place, the most important in the city, whose construction began thirty years earlier. Its Baroque-style main altarpiece is the work of the artist José de Churriguera and was completed in 1720, while the parish organ was designed by José de Verdalonga. In 1775, King Carlos III commissioned the architect Francisco Sabatini to build the Royal Walloon Guards Barracks, inaugurated in 1783. Currently, said barracks have been remodeled and are part of the facilities of the Carlos III University of Madrid.

Leganés was no stranger to the Spanish War of Independence. Between 1808 and 1812, the Walloon Guard Barracks was occupied by Napoleonic troops. On the parade ground, the brothers Leandro and Julián Rejón, two farmers accused of participating in the May 2 uprising, were shot.

Modernization

The Psychiatric Hospital of Santa Isabel, opened in 1851, prompted the development of the villa

The withdrawal of feudal privileges in 1820 from the Marquises of Leganés meant the confiscation of the town and the waters of the Butarque stream. The measures entailed a necessary modernization and demographic growth by absorbing the entire population of Polvoranca, a town that would end up disappearing in the 1840s because living conditions were worse. On its land is part of the current Polvoranca Park.

The greatest dynamic element was the inauguration of the Santa Isabel Psychiatric Hospital on December 28, 1851, in neo-Mudéjar style, on the old Tamames manor house. This center is considered the first existing mental hospital in Spain. On April 24, 1852, the first 44 patients were admitted, under the direction of the neurologist Luis Simarro. Thanks to the existence of this institution, basic services such as the paving of the streets, the channeling of sewage and the electric lighting.

Leganés was also the site of the last legal confrontation with a pistol in Spain: the Carabanchel duel. In a place close to the Dehesa de los Carabancheles (now La Fortuna), on March 12, 1870, the Duke of Montpensier, Antonio de Orleans, and his cousin Enrique de Borbón clashed. The first survived.

At the end of the XIX century, transport networks improved. Leganés already had a regular bus line since 1833 that linked them to the capital in a journey of an hour and a half. The railway station was opened on June 20, 1876 to serve as a stop on the Madrid-Cáceres-Portugal line, inaugurated four years later. Also in 1876 the Madrid-Leganés tram line began to operate, which three years became the first in the capital with steam traction. In 1879 the installation of running water began, which came from the Fuente de la Canaleja (Alcorcón), the same one where the Butarque stream is born.

The economy of Leganés has been based on agriculture until the middle of the XX century, specializing in the production of vegetables (especially cucumbers) and brandy. The proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931 led to the rise of the labor movement and the rise to power of mayor Pedro González "Perucho", one of the most important in the municipality: under his mandate the public education, the construction of the first town hall and the provision of basic services to the entire population. When the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War occurred, Leganés remained faithful to the republican government for a few months. In the end it was taken on November 4, 1936 by troops of the Francoist side, under the command of General Fernando Barrón. Dr. Aurelio Mendiguchía Carriche, director of the psychiatric sanatorium, was appointed the first provisional mayor.

Transformation into a city

Consistorial house and entrance to the Plaza Mayor, opened in 2007

Central Park

Monument to the Citizen Movement (Wait D'Ors, 2006)

At the beginning of the 1950s Leganés was transformed into a residential city, with the construction of the first industries and housing blocks. The Planning Plan for the Metropolitan Area, approved in 1963, began the tendency to divert the urban population concentration of Madrid towards other metropolitan municipalities. Thanks to internal immigration, many Spaniards who traveled to Madrid to work settled in towns on the periphery, where flats were cheaper. Most of these new inhabitants came from Extremadura, Castilla and Andalusia. The first neighborhood for workers was San Nicasio. From that moment on, it was conceived as a satellite city of the capital, with jurisdiction over residence and industry.

The urban growth of the town was not sufficiently orderly, since in the mid-1960s spontaneous settlements arose in areas far from the center such as La Fortuna, Vereda de los Estudiantes and Los Frailes. The first urban plan was approved in 1966 with the creation of the residential centers of Zarzaquemada (1968) and El Carrascal (1974), which became the most inhabited. Much of the agricultural land was reclassified and most of these houses are characterized by being high-rise blocks.

With the arrival of democracy, the new councilors assumed the improvement of public services (especially education and health) and equipment to avoid dependence on the capital. The General Urban Planning Plan of 1985 proposed the structuring of traffic, the attainment of land for free spaces, the creation of new industrial estates, new neighborhoods (Quinto Centenario and Valdepelayos), growth based on single-family nuclei and the recovery of degraded areas.. One of the first measures was the construction of the Polvoranca Park on cultivated land. In 1987 the Severo Ochoa Hospital opened its doors and the Saboya Barracks was transferred to the Carlos III University of Madrid, which installed its Polytechnic School there. And in November 1989, the Parquesur shopping center was inaugurated, one of the largest shopping areas in the Community of Madrid.

Current situation

Leganés continued to expand in the 1990s with greater urban planning. Although it was surpassed in population by Móstoles and Fuenlabrada, its demographic growth was maintained. At that time, new neighborhoods such as Leganés Norte and Arroyo Culebro were built. In 1997 the bullring with a retractable roof "La Cubierta" was inaugurated and in 1998, the Butarque Municipal Stadium. On the other hand, Metro de Madrid included the municipality in the new line 12 with six stations that started operating in 2003. The regulation of the use of spaces led to the complete pedestrianization of the city center.

On April 3, 2004, there was an attack in Leganés Norte, related to the events of March 11, 2004. The police located seven members of a jihadist terrorist cell entrenched in an apartment on Carmen Martín Gaite street. Faced with their possible arrest by the Special Operations Group, who had evacuated the area hours before, the suspects blew themselves up, exploding a charge of explosives. In addition to the terrorists, sub-inspector Francisco Javier Torronteras died and four other agents were injured from seriousness. The damage to the homes forced the evacuation of numerous residents and the reconstruction of the apartments after their demolition. In the following days, thousands of Leganenses demonstrated against terrorism and a memorial to the victims was erected in front of the Zarzaquemada station.

In 2009 the industrial estate "Leganés Tecnológico" was opened. Currently, the city has exceeded 180,000 inhabitants with the construction of two new neighborhoods: Poza del Agua and Solagua. A new neighborhood called Puerta de Fuenlabrada is currently being built, located next to the Severo Ochoa Hospital and the Ciudad del Automóvil industrial estate.

Geography

Leganés is located just seven kilometers from the geographic center of the Iberian Peninsula, in the north of the southern sub-plateau (Central Plateau) and 665 meters above sea level.

The first inhabitants settled on alluvial Quaternary-type lands, with two important basins: the Butarque stream to the north and the Culebro stream to the south. In fact, the municipality owes its name to the numerous lagoons that they found. Leganés is part of the Great Aquifer of Madrid and within its limits there are areas rich in groundwater, which have been used for centuries to irrigate orchards and for own consumption, partly thanks to their easy accessibility: they were 15 meters deep.

Regarding the relief, it forms part of the countryside located between the lower-middle course of the Guadarrama and Manzanares rivers, a flat area dotted with gentle hills and hills. This last river is the one that collects the waters of the area. The lowest zone, at 600 meters above sea level, is located in the northeast of the municipality, where the Butarque stream enters Villaverde. The highest is an elevation to the west of the municipal term with Alcorcón that reaches 706 meters. The average height varies according to the neighborhoods: the old town is 665 meters, La Fortuna 690 meters and Zarzaquemada 640 meters.

The total area is 43.1 km if residential areas, natural parks and isolated nuclei are added.

It borders Madrid to the north since the capital absorbed the current districts of Carabanchel and Villaverde Alto in the 1960s, and is separated 11 km to the south from Puerta del Sol. To the east it borders Getafe, of which center separates 4 km. Both municipalities have adjoining residential and industrial areas. To the west it limits with Alcorcón and to the south with Fuenlabrada, 6 km away each. Its central location means that you are not more than 725 km from any provincial capital of mainland Spain.

Border municipalities

Northwest: Madrid (Latina, Cuatro Vientos)	North: Madrid (Carabanchel)	Northeast: Madrid (Villaverde)
West: Alcorcón		This: Madrid (Villaverde), Getafe
Southwest: Polvoranca Park	South: Fuenlabrada	Sureste: Getafe

Hydrography

The Valley of Leganés

The city is part of the Tagus river basin. To the north you can find the Butarque stream, the most important in the history of the municipality. Approximately 20 km long, it rises in Boadilla del Monte and flows into the Manzanares River, in the Manzanares Linear Park (Villaverde). As it passes through Leganés, it crosses the La Fortuna neighborhood, the "Arroyo Butarque" public park and the Prado Overa industrial estate. Numerous sites of ancient inhabitants have been found on its shores, from Paleolithic hunting villages to the Middle Ages, when the villas that were next to the area (Butarque and Overa) had to be abandoned due to poor sanitary conditions. The channel has marked the territorial limit with respect to Madrid.

The Reajo Ravine (Valdegrullas) is a tributary of the Butarque that crosses the northwest and reaches the neighborhoods of Solagua and Campo de Tiro. On its mouth a public park has been made.

To the south is the Culebro stream (La Recomba), the most important tributary of the Manzanares river in its lower course. It is a 28 km long stream that originates in the Polvoranca Park (near the Mari Pascuala steppe lagoon) and passes through Fuenlabrada, Getafe and Pinto. Its flow varies depending on the season, reaching its maximum in spring and its total disappearance in summer. In some areas of the municipality seasonal lagoons are formed.

Fauna and flora

On the outskirts of the city, in the rural areas that have not yet been urbanized, you can see various species of native herbaceous plants and shrubs, forming Mediterranean pastures with a great diversity of species such as broom. The Prado Grande area (next to La Fortuna and Las Presillas park) stands out, where there is an abandoned almond plantation, the Viña Grande cork oak forest, the Cerro de Buenavista, the Bosque del Sur and the Polvoranca park, an area of marshy cereal steppe recovered as a semi-urban park. On the banks of the Culebro and Butarque streams you can see remains of native riverside vegetation such as poplars, white poplars, white serges, bardagueras, alders, elms, and ash trees.

Once upon a time, small holm oaks (holm oaks) were frequent, although they have disappeared due to urban planning. Its abundance in some areas gave rise to the place name of El Carrascal.

As far as fauna is concerned, the most important group is birds, being able to cite several dozen species if we take into account from the most frequent to those that occasionally fly over the municipal area. In the urban nucleus the house sparrow, the dove, the common blackbird and the magpie are frequent. In the outskirts and parks with more trees you can see, apart from these, others such as the hoopoe, woodpecker, red partridge, numerous passerines such as the green, robin, pied flycatcher, common chaffinch, and a long etcetera; in the group of raptors, it is easy to observe the common kestrel looking for prey in cereal-growing areas. In the wetlands (Polvoranca and Butarque) you can see species, both residents (mallard, coot or redfish) and wintering (great cormorant, black-headed gull or shoveler). As for mammals, there are species such as the Iberian hare, the common rabbit or the hedgehog. For their part, amphibians are represented by the natterjack toad and the common frog, which are undemanding with environmental conditions. In the Mari Pascuala lagoon, transformed into an artificial pond within the Polvoranca park, carp abound.

Climate

The climate of Leganés is continental Mediterranean, typical in those areas of Mediterranean countries that are far away from the sea. It differs from the typical Mediterranean in that the temperatures are more extreme. Winters are cold, below 5 °C between December and January, marked by frequent frosts and very occasional snowfalls. Summers are hot and dry, and it is normal for temperatures to exceed 30°C in July and August. The daily oscillation is between 10 and 15 °C.

Annual rainfall exceeds 400 mm, with maximums during autumn and spring. This is largely due to the storms that usually occur at that time of year, with a large amount of electrical equipment and precipitation (rain or hail). Other conditioning factors are the more than 2,850 annual hours of sunshine, the mild southwesterly winds, the richness of groundwater, and the scarcity of surface water. As in other Madrid municipalities, air pollution has become a problem that affects the climate, especially when several days have passed without wind or rain. The fact that the city is surrounded by highways and has a lot of traffic are some of the causes.

The main natural risks in Leganés are drought, depending on the climate or water reserves, and cold and heat waves. It is very rare that adverse events such as hurricanes, earthquakes and tornadoes occur.

Average Leganese Climate Parameters (1981-2010)
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Temp. max. abs. (°C)	20.8	22.6	26.4	30.7	35.4	40.6	41.6	40.6	40.0	30.6	25.2	19.2	41.6
Average temperature (°C)	10.5	12.7	16.8	18.6	23.0	29.3	33.2	32.5	27.5	20.6	14.5	10.7	20.8
Average temperature (°C)	5.9	7.5	10.8	12.7	16.8	22.4	25.9	25.4	21.1	15.3	9.8	6.5	15.0
Temp. medium (°C)	1.2	2.4	4.9	6.9	10.5	15.6	18.5	18.2	14.6	9.9	5.0	2.4	9.2
Temp. min. abs. (°C)	-9.0	-9.2	-6.2	-2.6	-0.2	4.2	8.2	10.0	5.0	-0.2	-5.0	-8.6	-9.2
Total precipitation (mm)	29.5	31.6	23.6	38.3	39.3	19.3	9.4	9.4	22.1	50.1	48.0	44.8	365.4
Precipitation days (≥ 1 mm)	6	5	4	7	6	3	1	2	3	7	6	7	56
Days of snow (≥)	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
Hours of sun	150	172	222	237	279	326	368	339	256	202	142	124	2850
Relative humidity (%)	76	68	58	56	52	42	35	38	48	64	73	79	57
Source: State Meteorology Agency

Demographics

Leganese demographic evolution figure between 1842 and 2019

Source: Spanish National Statistical Institute - Graphical development by Wikipedia.

Leganés has a population of 189,861 according to the 2019 census of the National Institute of Statistics. This makes it the fifth largest town in the Community of Madrid and the thirty-third with the largest population in Spain, ahead of San Sebastián and behind Almería.

The city has experienced a large population growth related to the economic development of Madrid. Until the 1950s, its population barely exceeded 5,000. From there, the arrival of immigrants from other provinces to work in the capital led to the construction of new housing in the surrounding municipalities, cheaper than those in the center although with few services. The first blocks were built in the San Nicasio neighborhood and the inhabitants came from regions such as Extremadura, Castilla and Andalusia. In this way, it went from 7,655 registered in 1960 to more than 56,000 in 1970, and exceeded 160,000 in 1980. Since these movements exceeded any forecast, many districts do not have enough parking spaces. With the advent of democracy, moderate growth has been maintained, urban planning plans have been developed in the new neighborhoods and priority has been given to public facilities such as schools and hospitals.

The number of foreign inhabitants has increased in recent years to reach 118 foreigners per 1,000 people, a lower figure than the regional average. The population of Spanish nationality represents 88.19% of the census, while those of other nationalities account for the remaining 11.90%. By origin, the most important communities are Romanians (4,104 people), Moroccans (3,606), Colombians (3,047), Ecuadorians (2,727) and Peruvians (2,210).

Although at first it was considered a commuter town, since many of its inhabitants work in Madrid, since the 1980s the dependency on services from the capital has been reduced with the construction of industrial estates, shops, educational centers, health clinics and a general hospital. Leganés has been part of the Law of Large Cities of Spain since 2006. Its population was 188,691 inhabitants in 2014 (INE).

Administration and politics

Institutions

In Leganés there are three levels of public administrations, which have different responsibilities and powers. The Leganés City Council is the body with the most powers in the city, since it regulates the daily life of citizens, and important issues such as urban planning, transport, municipal tax collection, road safety management through the police local, the organization of festivities, the maintenance of public roads and gardens. It is also responsible for the construction of municipal facilities.

The local government bodies are the Plenary of the City Council and its Commissions; the mayor, the deputy mayors and the Local Government Board. In the town hall, located in the Plaza Mayor of Leganés, is where the ordinary and extraordinary plenary sessions are held. The Casa del Reloj de Leganés houses the citizen service. There are also District Boards for the neighborhoods of La Fortuna, San Nicasio and Zarzaquemada. The municipality also has legal advice, a social council and a special commission for suggestions and complaints.

Above the City Council is the Community of Madrid, in charge of its corresponding powers transferred by the State. Since Madrid is a single-province autonomous community, there is no council. In Leganés is the headquarters of the Madrid-South Territorial Area. The Community has broad powers in public education, health, employment offices, social affairs, traffic, economic policies, trade, etc. It is also responsible for building and maintaining outpatient clinics, hospitals, schools, universities, and residences for the elderly.

The highest body is the General State Administration, which deals with issues such as security (National Police and Army Corps), Justice and Renfe trains. These powers are coordinated by the Government Delegation in the Community of Madrid. The three public administrations collaborate with each other for the development of the municipality.

Municipal government

The government of the Leganés City Council is chosen by universal suffrage in elections held every four years. The D'Hondt system is the electoral method that is used in Spain to distribute the councilors, in an approximately proportional way to the votes obtained by the candidacies. The plenary is made up of 27 councillors.

In the 2019 municipal elections in Spain, the PSOE was the party with the most votes and obtained 10 councilors, four more than in the previous elections and more than double the votes of the second force. Unión por Leganés became the main opposition party, while the Popular Party came in third place 180 votes behind, both with four seats. Podemos and Ciudadanos obtained three councilors, Más Madrid-Leganemos was left with two, and Vox entered the consistory with a mayor.

Since the recovery of democracy in Spain, nine municipal elections have been held. The mayor since 2015 is Santiago Llorente Gutiérrez of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE).

At the end of the XX century, Leganés had been characterized as one of the voting centers for left-wing parties in the Community of Madrid, forming the so-called "red belt" along with other towns such as Getafe or Fuenlabrada. In this way, the city was governed by the PSOE for more than three decades, either alone or in coalition with IU. From 2003 to 2011, the PP was the formation with the most votes at the local and regional level, without ever achieving an absolute majority.

The first elected mayor was Ramón Espinar Gallego (1979-1983), followed by Fernando Abad Bécquer (1983-1991) and José Luis Pérez Ráez (1991-2007). The lack of understanding between the PSOE and the IU led to Guadalupe Bragado, of the PP, becoming the first mayor of a conservative party in 2007. A motion of no confidence removed her from office 23 days later and her replacement was the socialist Rafael Gómez Montoya (2007-2011). Since PSOE and IU did not obtain a majority, Jesús Gómez Ruiz was the first member of the PP to complete the legislature as mayor. However, in the 2015 elections the Socialist Party regained the mandate, with Santiago Llorente Gutiérrez taking office.

Consistorial House of Leganés, where the full

Territorial organization

Leganés is administratively divided into neighborhoods. The main municipal body is the Local Government Board. The two most inhabited neighborhoods (Zarzaquemada and San Nicasio) and La Fortuna (far from the center), have District Boards with their own powers for a more decentralized management. Although most of the population is located in the urban core, the lack of an urban plan in the 1960s led to the emergence of spontaneous settlements in remote areas, such as La Fortuna and Vereda de los Estudiantes.

The municipal limits of Leganés until the XIX century corresponded to the current Barrio Centro. In 1958 the expansion began with a neighborhood for new residents, San Nicasio, which came to be inhabited mostly by emigrants. The mayor Saturnino del Yerro encouraged in 1960 the expansion of the downtown area, with new neighborhoods such as Descubridores, Vírgenes or Las Flores. Later he assumed administrative control of the town of La Fortuna, and in 1966 he promoted the first General Urban Planning Plan (PGOU), with an expansion to the east (Zarzaquemada). Due to the large number of emigrants that Leganés took over, that plan had many errors such as land forecasts, which were well below expectations. Since the 1980s, the priority has been orderly construction and the recovery of green areas.

Hermitage of San Nicasio

Panoramic view of La Fortuna

The neighborhoods of Leganés are the following:

1. Leganes Centre: oldest core of the city. It welcomes the historic buildings such as the church of El Salvador, the old asylum and the headquarters of the Royal Guards Valonas, which today is used by the Carlos III University of Madrid. In 2007 the Plaza Mayor was built on the old grounds of the municipal football field. In addition to the old hull itself, it is divided into smaller neighborhoods (Batallas, Los Santos, Flores, Discoverers, Writers and Virgins), so called by the names of their streets. Towards the southeast, you will find the Casa del Clock (citizen service), the courts and the bullring "La Cubierta" and the fairground.
2. San Nicasio: first expansion of Leganés, owes its name to the hermitage of the centuryXVIII designed by Ventura Rodríguez. It is separated from the center by the train tracks. Time ago it was divided by a way of military use, on which a boulevard has been built. The hermitage, the Leganese Station (Renfe, Cercanías and Metro) and the José Saramago Civic Center can be found there. The city council developed a comprehensive remodeling plan in the 2000s to modernize it, in addition to a plan of urban expansion (PAU) making it grow to the Poza del Agua neighborhood. Both San Nicasio and its expansion are divided almost entirely into two parts by the names of its streets: the rivers and the provinces.
3. Zarzaquemada: expansion of Leganés to the east, is the neighborhood with greater population density. Its main route is Juan Carlos I Avenue, which functions as the main artery of the rest of the streets, and the two most important streets of the neighborhood, the streets of the Monegros (on the north side) and the Rioja (on the south side). The Egaleo amphitheater, the Pedroches Health Center, wide green areas (Parque de la Chopera and Picasso), two churches and the Estación de Zarzaquemada (Cercanías). Its streets are mostly the regions of Spain.
4. El Carrascal: is separated from Zarzaquemada by Avenida Europa. Most of their homes are high-rise blocks and improved urban planning. There are the civic centre Rigoberta Menchú, the European Pavilion, the Ice Track and the Parquesur shopping center. Their streets have names from countries in Europe.
5. Fifth Centennial: residential expansion north of San Nicasio, with detached houses and flat blocks. There is the Butarque Stadium and the Hispanity Park. Their streets have names from countries of Ibero-America.
6. Valdepelayos: Southwest residential neighborhood, completed in the 1990s. Their streets have names of Spanish politicians.
7. Montepinos: Old settlement south of the city, is behind the Severo Ochoa Hospital. Limit Valdepelayos to the west. There is the Frailes Park.
8. Human Rights: residential sector in the southeast, where the cultural centre Las Dehesillas and the Museum of Sculptures stand out. It is also known as the neighborhood of Los Tilos, and its streets have human rights names.
9. Leganés Norte: residential sector to the northeast, is separated from Zarzaquemada by the railway line. It was built in the 1990s. It has two green areas (North Leganese Park and Palestine Park) and the Leganese Central Library. Their streets have women's names.
10. Campo de Tiro: residential expansion northwest of San Nicasio, owes the name to its former military use. It hosts a major college of Carlos III University and Valdegrullas Park. Its streets have names of trees and plants.
11. Solagua: widening in the northwest of the city (such as Ensanche de San Nicasio). It borders south with the Campo de Tiro and the Fifth Centenary, southeast with Leganés Norte and southwest with San Nicasio. Its streets have names from Central American countries, European capitals and Quixote characters.
12. Arroyo Culebro: expansion south of the urban center, is separated from Valdepelayos by the M-406 and surrounds it the main motorways of southern Madrid. It is a residential neighborhood that combines cobbled vests with floor blocks. Part of the neighborhood is crossed by the Recomba stream, on which a green area has been built. Next is the Polvoranca Park. It has a Near Station. Its streets are names of municipalities in Madrid and mayors of the municipality.
13. Poza del Agua: is the most modern neighborhood, built in the late 2000s. It borders the southeast with San Nicasio and the east with Solagua. In the north and west it borders with the Avenida de Salvador Allende. Its streets have names of planets and constellations, as well as a street dedicated to Vicente Ferrer.
14. Puerta de Fuenlabrada: is a new neighborhood located next to the Severo Ochoa Hospital and the industrial estate of the City of the Automobile. It has two supermarkets (Ahorramás y Mercadona), a walkway connects the neighborhood with the industrial estate Ciudad del Automóvil. Their streets have sports names.

The following neighborhoods belong to Leganés but are not in the urban core.

1. La Fortuna: This neighborhood is five kilometres from the centre, between M-40 and Radial 5. It was founded in 1960 by neighbors and emigrants who previously lived in Orcasitas, and was adapted to their needs without proper urban planning. In the 1980s the city council assumed a plan to provide it with public services. There you can find the Serafín Diez Antón park and the Sambil Outlet shopping center. In 1993, the District Board was founded, one of the first examples of local decentralization in the Madrid Community. It is connected to Metro de Madrid with a stop on line 11 towards Plaza Elíptica. The streets of this neighborhood have names of saints (coincidants with the names of the family that settled in the neighborhood) and names of Portuguese towns.
2. Vereda de los Estudiantes: another of the centers on which the city has assumed administrative control, separated from the rest of the city by the M-406. It is located near the municipal border with Getafe. It was founded in the 1950s by emigrants, mostly Extremaduran and Andalusian. At first he was nicknamed "Barrio del Candil" because he had not been public. Today is a residential neighborhood. Their streets have provincial names.

The Viña Grande neighborhood was part of Leganés until 1994, when its neighbors agreed to join Alcorcón through a binding referendum. This land is now part of San José de Valderas.

Justice

It has stations of the National Police Corps and Municipal Police, as well as a barracks and a Civil Guard barracks. The municipality constitutes the ninth judicial district of the Community of Madrid and is made up of eight courts of First Instance and Instruction and one for Violence against Women.

Economy

Until recently, it was a commuter town with good communications in the Madrid metropolitan area. Its population has tripled in less than ten years and the housing developments surrounding the old town have multiplied. At the same time, their primary activities have been losing importance: horticulture (supplying the capital) and livestock. On the contrary, the installation of various industries has been increasing due to the improvement in its communications, and the scarcity and high cost of industrial land in the capital.

Industrial zones

The municipality has the following industrial estates:

• Our Lady of Butarque: located between the neighborhoods of Zarzaquemada and El Carrascal and the getafense neighborhood of El Bercial.
• The Portillo, best known as the City of the Motor Vehicle, which is currently in expansion to the south taking as axis the M-409.
• Polvoranca: where is the warehouse of the former Tabacalera, now Logist.
• La Fortuna: neighborhood of large industrial tradition of small size in the urban center itself, is recently located a new polygon near the M-40.
• Prado Overa: located next to the motorway of Toledo A-42.
• San José de Valderas (located by the urban centre of Alcorcón, although in the municipality of Leganés).
• La Laguna: takes as axis the M-50 in it is located companies like Porcelanosa or Verdecora.
• Leganés Tecnológico: dedicated to providing soil to companies dedicated to new technologies, located next to the M-40, in collaboration with the Carlos III University.
• Sur M-50 (Located next to the Naranjo district of Fuenlabrada, although in the municipality of Leganés).

The main companies active in the municipality are the aforementioned Logista, Roche Farma (production of pharmaceutical products), Tapón Corona (production of caps for bottling), Renault Vehículos Industriales (production of crankshafts), Zardoya Otis (production of elevators and escalators), Empresa Martín (intercity bus network), Ramos Sierra (distributors of electrical equipment), Makro, Decathlon or El Corte Inglés (commerce).

Trade

Commercial Park Plaza Nueva

There are the following shopping centers installed in the municipality of Leganés:

• Leganés One: the oldest, located in the district of San Nicasio.
• Parquesur: delimited at the M-45 crossing with the A-42 and the road from Leganés to Villaverde.
• Arroyosur: fit between M-409 and M-50.
• Plaza Nueva Shopping Park: Opened in the spring of 2009 and located at the foot of the Talud del Cementerio, next to the M-425 and the Municipal Stadium of Butarque.
• Sambil Outlet Madrid: The most modern of all, opened in 2017; is between M-411 and M-40.

There are also large isolated stores such as Makro, located in the Nuestra Señora de Butarque industrial estate, and shopping centers in nearby towns such as Hipercor and El Corte Inglés El Bercial (Getafe) or CC Islazul in Carabanchel.

Monuments and places of interest

The parish church of San Salvador

Church of San Salvador: the church dates back to the 15th century, although Construction began on the current structure in 1662. It has a Baroque-style main altarpiece, which was made by the artist José de Churriguera between 1701 and 1720, with an oil painting of the Transfiguration by the Venetian Francesco Leonardoni, who also signs the paintings of the collateral altarpieces, dated 1702. Its parish organ, the work of José de Verdalonga, also stands out.

San Nicasio Hermitage: Neoclassical in style, it was designed by the architect Ventura Rodríguez between 1772 and 1785, commissioned by the Marquis of Leganés in honor of Bishop San Nicasio. It has been restored several times.

In addition to San Nicasio, the Hermitage of Our Lady of Butarque (restored) stands out.

Casa de Salud de Santa Isabel: it was the first psychiatric hospital of its kind in Spain, and the first company in the municipality. In her time, she stood out for being a pioneer in the care of patients in psychiatric medicine. He took advantage of the old Medinaceli palace as land. It has a neo-Mudéjar façade whose main promoter was the architect Emilio Rodríguez Ayuso, and patios that at the time were attended by inmates. It is in the process of being restored and part of the building is, today, a health center.

Polvoranca Park: it was designed in the 1980s. It has 150 hectares, all of them belonging to Leganés; It has several lakes, an arboretum and a botanical garden. In this park you can find the ruins of the Hermitage of San Pedro, the last vestige of the old town of Polvoranca.

Royal Guards Walloons Headquarters: also known as the Sabatini Building or Saboya Headquarters, it was designed by the architect Francisco Sabatini. Its works were completed in 1783, and it had military use until 1987, when the Savoy Regiment abandoned the building. It is currently integrated into the Carlos III University of Madrid and has been completely rebuilt inside and out.

Plaza Mayor de Leganés and automaton clock: the Plaza Mayor de Leganés was inaugurated in 2008, on the land that used to be the old soccer field of CD Leganés. There are the Town Hall, a sports facility and various establishments. In the Town Hall there is a Swiss automata clock, which is the first of these characteristics in Spain.

Museum of Outdoor Sculpture of Leganés: located in Las Dehesillas park. Its promoter was the sculptor Luis Arencibia, and it is the result of an agreement with the Reina Sofía Museum. The institution gave the City Council 50 large sculptures that were previously exhibited at the Spanish Museum of Contemporary Art. Access to the park is completely free, and it is open until midnight. It has works by Martín Chirino, Agustín Ibarrola and Jorge Oteiza among other artists.

Services

Education

Sculpture that honors the Spanish language and El Quijote

The municipality has numerous educational centers, mostly public primary and secondary schools, as well as a specific center for special education and the CEMU. Also noteworthy is the installation at the end of the eighties of the Superior Polytechnic School of the Carlos III University since 1989. It has its own support and training center for non-university teachers. Leganés, like the rest of the cities in the Community of Madrid, depends on the regional Ministry of Education.

Primary and Secondary Education

The compulsory education network in Leganés developed especially from 1975 with the arrival of democracy in Spain. There were no institutes in the city until 1976, when the IES José de Churriguera was inaugurated, which had morning and afternoon shifts. Currently the city has more than 30 public schools and 16 secondary education institutes. It also has private education centers and a special education school, called Colegio Alfonso X El Sabio.

University education

Since 1990 Leganés has the Carlos III University of Madrid. The Higher Polytechnic School is located on its campus and served to revitalize the central area of the city, which among other actions involved the repair and adaptation of the Royal Walloon Guards Barracks (Sabatini Building), and the pedestrianization of the area. The Leganés Campus is fully integrated into the center of the town, and has several buildings, a library, the Padre Soler Auditorium and a sports center. It also includes the Leganés Tecnológico project, in which the University is integrated, and a student residence.

The municipality has had a University School of Nursing since 1991.

National University of Distance Education

Since the 2010-11 academic year, Leganés has a University Classroom of the National Distance Education University (UNED), integrated into the Madrid Sur Associated Center. Its facilities are located in the IES José de Churriguera. The Madrid South Center has more than 8,000 students, with around 1,000 enrolled in Leganés.

The University Classroom has two digital whiteboards enabled for teletraining (AVIP), as well as the Institute's library as a study space and 8 classes, in addition to the multipurpose room and cafeteria service.

In Leganés the degrees of access course for over 25 years and over 45 years, Spanish Language and Literature, Environmental Sciences, English Studies, Engineering in Industrial Technologies and Philosophy are taught. The Program for people over 50 years of age and language teaching (CUID) is also taught

Other centres

Among the educational projects in Leganés, the Ciudad Escuela de los Muchachos (CEMU), founded by Alberto Muñiz Sánchez, stands out. It was built in 1970 with the intention of welcoming and educating problematic or deprived boys and girls, to whom it gives a home. It welcomes 120 minors in a residential regime and other external students, and works for the resocialization of the boys through a system based on participation. The center was created in the image of Father Silva's City of Boys in Orense, and even has its own “mayor”.

The Official School of Languages of Leganés has been operating independently since 1989. It emerged as a section of the EOI of Alcorcón, to end up separating from it.

Health

Severo Ochoa Hospital

The main hospital in Leganés is the Severo Ochoa University Hospital, and there are also several public health centers in the different neighborhoods. The city stands out for being a pioneer in mental health care, and currently has two centers: the José Germain Center and the Santa Isabel Center. Lastly, it has a Drug Addiction Care Center. The municipality forms part of a single basic health zone, according to the new health map of the Community of Madrid.

Transportation

Road network

By bordering Madrid, Leganés benefits from the passage of two of the main ring roads of the capital.

• M-40, Madrid's ring road. It surrounds the north of the city, separating it from the municipal limit of Madrid, and crosses the neighborhood of La Fortuna. Departures 27, 28 and 30.
• M-50, Madrid's ring road. Surround the city and mark the limit with Fuenlabrada. Exit 53A, 55 and 59.
• Radial 5, toll motorway around the west of the city, from Carabanchel to Navalcarnero.

The following roads belong to the main network:

• M-45, Madrid's ring road. It surrounds the east of the city, separating it from the district of Villaverde and connecting it with Getafe. Exit 1, 2B and 6.
• M-402: link the M-45 from Villaverde to the center of Leganés.
• M-406: begins at the avenue of Los Castillos de Alcorcón, crosses the southern part of Leganés and ends at the A-42 next to the Getafe Hospital.
• M-407: also known as "Autovía de Polvoranca", begins at the exit of the park of Polvoranca and leads to Griñón. It's connected to the M-50.
• M-425: also known as "Leganes to Carabanchel Road", begins at Carabanchel Avenue located in the north of Leganés, crosses the Leganés Tecnológico industrial site and ends at the Lusitana Via.

Madrid-Barajas Airport is a 30-minute drive away on the M-40. It can also be accessed from Leganés through the Metro and Cercanías network.

Buses

The public bus service (urban and interurban), rail and metro is integrated into the Consorcio Regional de Transportes de Madrid, a public company of the Community of Madrid. Leganés is part of the "B1" pricing zone.

There is currently one urban line, 18 interurban lines and 3 night lines. Being a municipal service outside the capital, all the buses are green. Most are operated by Martín, S.A. except three that belong to Avanza Interurbanos.

Urban lines

Interurban lines

Railway

The Leganés train route crosses the city and has not been able to blow the entire stretch

Central Leganese Station

Estación de Cercanías de Zarzaquemada, in the homonymous neighborhood, inaugurated on 19 May 1982.

The Leganés railway station (Leganés Central) was inaugurated on June 20, 1876, being used by the now extinct Madrid to Cáceres and Portugal Railway Company, and is located in the heart of the city. Today it connects the city with Cercanías Renfe (line C-5), the Media Distancia train (Renfe) and the Madrid Metro (line 12). At the exit there is a bus stop.

Train tracks cross part of the city. Although work has been done to reduce its impact on the urban layout, with the construction of promenades and partial burials, they have not been able to be completely buried. On the other hand, for many years there was a road exclusively used by the military in the direction of the Campamento barracks that divided the San Nicasio neighborhood in half, but it has been dismantled. The section of road through the urban area was removed and a wide boulevard has been built on it that connects this neighborhood with the Shooting Range.

Leganés is one of the stops on the R10 Media Distancia railway line (Madrid-Plasencia-Cáceres-Mérida-Badajoz).

Regarding Cercanías Madrid, the railway network that connects Madrid with its metropolitan area, has three stations on the C-5 line. They are Parque Polvoranca (communicates with the Arroyo Culebro neighborhood and Parque Polvoranca), Leganés (downtown) and Zarzaquemada (communicates with Leganés Norte and Zarzaquemada-El Carrascal to the south). The C-5 line has a direct connection to the Atocha station (Madrid).

Middle Distance

Commuters

Line	Tour	Stations
	The Soto - Fuenlabrada / Humanes	Parque Polvoranca, Leganés and Zarzaquemada

Subway

Leganés has seven Madrid Metro stations: six on line 12 (Metrosur) and one on line 11 for the La Fortuna neighborhood.

The Metrosur service was inaugurated on April 11, 2003. The six stations that pass through Leganés are San Nicasio, Leganés Central (connection with Cercanías Renfe), Hospital Severo Ochoa, Casa del Reloj, Julián Besteiro and El Carrascal.

San Nicasio station is located four minutes from Puerta del Sur in Alcorcón, Metrosur's only connection with Metro line 10. In the middle of the journey, space was left for a station (Poza del Agua) in the neighborhood of the same name, which will only be inaugurated when the neighborhood is fully inhabited. To this day, its opening is not being considered.

On October 5, 2010, the La Fortuna Station was inaugurated, which connects the neighborhood with line 11. It does not connect with any station on line 12.

Line	Tour	Stations
	La Fortuna - Elliptical Square	The Fortune
	Metrosur	San Nicasio, Leganés Central, Hospital Severo Ochoa, Casa del Clock, Julián Besteiro, El Carrascal

Culture

Auditorium Padre Soler, on the campus of Carlos III University

The Cultural Civic Center José Saramago, opened in 2005

The Central Library and Central Municipal Archive in the North Leganese district

Leganés has several cultural facilities where various activities can be carried out. It has an open-air theater known as Egaleo and six cultural centers. The most recent of these is the José Saramago Civic Center, which is located near the Shooting Range. The facility has inside the José Monleón Theater, an exhibition hall and a library. On the other hand, the Padre Soler Auditorium is located in the city, within the Carlos III University of Madrid. There is also the Central Library of Leganés, which is located in the Leganés Norte neighborhood.

One of the best-known buildings in Leganés is its La Cubierta bullring. The arena has a mobile roof for which it receives its name. Despite being originally designed to host bullfights, its use is more frequent for concerts by musical groups, with the Festimad being held on two occasions there. In addition, it is one of the largest drinking areas in the city. The city's fairgrounds are located on the same land.

The main museum of Leganés is located in Las Dehesillas park, and it is the Open Air Sculpture Museum. It has sculptures by multiple artists such as Jorge Oteiza, Martín Chirino, Agustín Ibarrola, Ricardo Ugarte and Victorio Macho among others. In addition to those found in the museum, the city has other works scattered throughout its streets.

Local festivals

The biggest celebration in the entire city takes place on August 16 with the festivity dedicated to Our Lady of Butarque, patron saint of the city. The festivities last a week, and to the activities programmed by the Town Hall (such as concerts, fairs, running of the bulls or orchestras) are added those carried out by the various clubs. The following in importance are those of October 11 by Nicasio de Reims (San Nicasio). They are organized between the town hall and the Neighborhood Association of the neighbourhood. Activities similar to those in Butarque are carried out, although they are especially focused on the neighborhood.

It is worth noting the festivities of other neighborhoods. La Fortuna celebrates its festivities for San Fortunato in the last week of June, while the neighborhoods of Zarzaquemada, Leganés Norte, El Carrascal and Vereda de los Estudiantes organize activities during the week of San Juan.

Sports

Sports facilities

Volleyball Party in the Europe Pavilion, between Spain and Portugal

Leganese CD Party Against the Atletic of Madrid at the Butarque Municipal Stadium (2016)

Most of the sports facilities in Leganés are municipal. The body in charge of them is the Delegation of Sports, dependent on the City Council. Among its functions, it carries out the planning to hold competitions, the transfer of sports spaces, the maintenance and their rental for any other type of event. The city has a soccer field, a multipurpose pavilion, four sports centers (some of them with indoor pools), ten sports centers and a summer pool in El Carrascal.

The Butarque Municipal Stadium is the largest soccer field in the municipality and is used by the Leganés Sports Club, which in turn is in charge of its maintenance. The capacity is 11,454 spectators, it has natural grass and the dimensions are 105 by 70 meters. It was inaugurated on February 14, 1998, replacing the previous stadium, the Luis Rodríguez de Miguel, on whose land the current Plaza Mayor was built. In the annex it has an artificial grass field that is used for matches of the subsidiary and other local clubs. The team has demanded that the City Council build its own sports city to be able to train on natural grass, although the project is paralyzed.

The Europa Pavilion is the main multipurpose center, inaugurated on May 20, 1994. It has a central court of 1800 square meters, surrounded by stands with a total capacity of 5000 spectators. Inside the facility there are multipurpose rooms for martial arts, gyms, squash courts and a climbing wall. Right next door are the El Carrascal Sports Center (the only one with an athletics track) and the Leganés Ice Pavilion. Due to its capacity, the Europe Pavilion has preference for large sporting events, while clubs that do not compete in the professional category play in smaller venues such as the Manolo Cadenas, Olimpia and La Fortuna sports centers.

As for the facilities that do not depend on the city council, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid has its own sports center on campus.

Sports clubs

The City Council collaborates with the Leganés clubs through two systems: collaboration agreements (renewable each year) and subsidies to non-profit entities.

The most practiced sport in Leganés is soccer, both in its traditional variant and in women's soccer and futsal. With close to 5,000 registered soccer players and 230 teams in local and federated competition, it is one of the towns with the most clubs in the region. The most important entity is Club Deportivo Leganés, which currently plays in the Second Division of Spain and reached military status. in the highest category for four seasons.

The city has excelled in other modalities throughout its history, both individual and collective, in which grassroots sports are also encouraged. In handball, the main team is the Club Balonmano Leganés, currently in the First National Division. In volleyball, the Club Voleibol Leganés has two clubs in the Iberdrola League and in the Men's Super League 2. And in basketball, the Club Baloncesto Leganés has a team in the women's second division As for martial arts, the Sánchez Élez-Sanabria Sports Club for taekwondo and the Víctor Pradera Club for karate and judo stand out at the national level. And as a benchmark for water sports, in Swimming the Leganés Swimming Club stands out.

The Leganés Integration Sports Association (ADIL) is the main sports entity for people with disabilities.

Famous sportsmen

Carlos Sastre with the yellow jersey of the Tour de France 2008

Several successful Spanish athletes are linked to Leganés. The first Olympic representative was the cyclist Daniel Yuste, who participated in the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games. Twenty years later, José María Sánchez Élez and José Sanabria from Legan won silver medals in taekwondo in the JJ. oo. from Seoul 1988, when this sport was only for exhibition. The diver Javier Illana García traveled to Beijing 2008 and was a bronze medalist in springboard jumping at the 2010 European Swimming Championships. The taekwondists Eva are also from the city Calvo (representing Spain at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games) and his sister Marta Calvo.

The cyclist Carlos Sastre, winner of the 2008 Tour de France, was born and lived in Madrid until he was 18, when he moved to El Barraco (Ávila). Another prominent international athlete has been José Manuel Egea, three times world karate champion and with more than 14 European titles and 20 world titles during the 1980s. In handball, Juan Pedro Muñoz "Papitu", Juan del Arco and Manolo Cadenas took the first steps of their career in local clubs. And in boxing, Alfonso Redondo was European welterweight champion in 1987.

As for the footballers, we can highlight José María Movilla, Juan Sabas, José Luis Pérez Caminero (Atlético de Madrid), Vivar Dorado (Leganés and Getafe), Víctor Fernández, Carlos Vigaray and Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid).

Although not a native of Leganés, ice skater Javier Fernández, world champion in 2015, has been a member of the Ice Leganés figure skating Club for several seasons.

Twin cities

Leganés actively participates in town twinning, an initiative to develop projects for mutual collaboration and cultural exchange. On October 19, 1980, he signed his first agreement with Egaleo, on the outskirts of Attica (Greece). Currently, it maintains the following twinnings, in order of year of collaboration:

In addition, it has established agreements with Huzhou (China), Targuis (Morocco) and Tindouf (Algeria).