Madrid’s Centro district contains six neighbourhoods, and not one of them is called Malasaña, Chueca, Lavapiés or La Latina.
Those four names are on every city map, in every listing and in ordinary conversation. They are not on the municipal list, which runs on a different set of names entirely: Palacio, Embajadores, Cortes, Justicia, Universidad and Sol. Madrid counts 131 barrios across 21 districts, delimited in 1987, and Malasaña is simply the nickname of the barrio of Universidad. Chueca, Lavapiés and La Latina have no administrative entity of their own at all, which matters the moment a rule is written by district rather than by name.
What are the official neighbourhoods of central Madrid? The Centro district of Madrid has six official barrios: Palacio, Embajadores, Cortes, Justicia, Universidad and Sol. Malasaña, Chueca, Lavapiés and La Latina appear on no municipal list. Madrid has 131 barrios across 21 districts, with the district boundaries set in 1987.
Two lists that do not match
The six barrios that the Council assigns to Centro, district 01, are Palacio, Embajadores, Cortes, Justicia, Universidad and Sol. It is the same list the Council publishes to define the ZBEDEP Distrito Centro low emission zone.
Sol is the only one of the six that doubles as an everyday name. The other five are rarely used in conversation, and the names that circulate in their place appear nowhere official.
| Administrative status | Everyday name |
|---|---|
| Area with no administrative entity | La Latina |
| Area with no administrative entity | Lavapiés |
| Area with no administrative entity | Chueca |
| Second name of the Universidad barrio | Malasaña |
| Official barrio of the Centro district | Sol |
Universidad also became Malasaña in 1961
It is the Council that places in 1961 the point at which the Universidad barrio also came to be called Malasaña. Manuela Malasaña was a young seamstress killed in the French repression of 2 May 1808.
Three dates order the sequence: 1808 the event, 1961 the second name and 1987 the administrative boundaries still in force. The second name had been in circulation for twenty-six years by the time the district map was drawn.
That 2 May is also a public holiday. It is the Fiesta de la Comunidad de Madrid, one of the twelve days the Comunidad fixes for the whole region against the two each town hall chooses, as set out in how Madrid’s 14 public holidays are shared out.
Where the official name is the one that binds
The distinction stops being trivia at the wheel of a car. Municipal rules are written over official barrios, and the ZBEDEP Distrito Centro is the expensive example.
Its scope is defined by naming the six barrios. A car badged B or C may not drive through the zone, and residents registered in the district are the ones who can issue day invitations. Both are checked against the administrative barrio, not against the area a driver believes they are in. The regime is set out in how the ZBE and the two ZBEDEP differ and in which cars can drive in Madrid.
Three further consequences follow from the same principle:
- El Rastro is authorised in named streets of the Embajadores barrio, not in “La Latina”, as listed in when El Rastro is open.
- Residence invitations for the low emission zone depend on the district register, not on the area name.
- A foreign-plated car faces the same barrier regardless of which name it navigates by, covered in driving into Madrid with foreign plates.
Twenty-one districts, 131 barrios
The city is organised on two levels. Above, 21 districts, whose current boundaries were set in the 1987 territorial restructuring. Below, 131 barrios, the territorial units each district is divided into.
There is a name and a code that the Council sets for every barrio, and the code carries the district with it. Embajadores is barrio 012 and Universidad is 015, both inside district 01.
The list is not frozen. It reached 131 in 2017, when Valdebernardo, Valderrivas and El Cañaveral were added in the east of the city, which makes the barrio list more recent than the district map it sits inside.
The same gap shows up when booking, because an apartment advertised in Malasaña is registered in Universidad, and the Centro district holds only 17 per cent of the city’s tourist apartments, 174 addresses out of 997.
Frequently asked questions about Madrid’s neighbourhoods
What are the official neighbourhoods of central Madrid?
Six, and none is called Malasaña or Chueca. The Centro district is made up of Palacio, Embajadores, Cortes, Justicia, Universidad and Sol, of which Sol is the only one that is also an everyday name.
Which barrio is Malasaña in?
Universidad. Madrid City Council dates to 1961 the point at which the Universidad barrio also came to be called Malasaña, and the two names have run in parallel since. Manuela Malasaña was a young seamstress killed on 2 May 1808.
How many neighbourhoods does Madrid have?
A hundred and thirty-one barrios across 21 districts. The district boundaries were set in the 1987 territorial restructuring, and each barrio carries a name and a code issued by Madrid City Council.
Does the difference between official and popular names matter?
Yes, for driving. The ZBEDEP Distrito Centro low emission zone is defined by naming the six official barrios, so whether a car may enter depends on the administrative name rather than on the area a driver thinks they are in.
Are new barrios still being created in Madrid?
Yes. The count reached 131 in 2017, when Valdebernardo, Valderrivas and El Cañaveral were added in the east of the city, which means the official list has changed more recently than the district boundaries of 1987.
Six barrios in the centre, 131 in the city, and four famous names that appear on no list at all.