Red belt (Community of Madrid)

The expression red belt (Spanish: Cinturón rojo) is used to designate in the Community of Madrid, since the return to democracy in the last decades of the 20th century, the set of cities located in the southern part of the metropolitan area of the city of Madrid, characterized by their high population of workers or working class and because of their long history with mayors of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party or other left parties and coalitions such as the Communist Party of Spain or the United Left, representing a total of 21% of the population residing in the Community of Madrid, with six out of the ten most populated municipalities of the region belonging to the red belt.[1][2][3][4] The name is also used to talk about the southern districts of the city of Madrid.[5]

Location of the "red belt" within the Community and the city of Madrid.

As of the 2010s, there was also talk in this country of a "purple belt" in reference to the emergence, with a notable implantation in the red belt, of the new Podemos party, whose color is purple instead of the traditional red of the left-wing parties.[6][7][8]

Municipalities of the Madrilenian «red belt»

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Municipality Population (2021)[9] Current mayor Term start Party (2023-2027) Parties in local government since 1979
 
Alcorcón   170 817 (7th) Candelaria Testa 2023 PSOE

(Coalition)

  1979-1999; 2003-2011; 2019-current
 
Arganda del Rey   56 386 (21st) Alberto Escribano 2023 PP

(Coalition)

   1979-1999
  1999-2003; 2015-2023
 
Coslada   81 273 (15th) Ángel Viveros 2015 PSOE

(Coalition)

  1982-1983

   1983-1999
  1999-2003; 2007-2011; 2015-current

 
Fuenlabrada   192 233 (4th) Javier Ayala 2018 PSOE

(Majority)

  1979-current
 
Getafe   183 095 (6th) Sara Hernández 2015 PSOE

(Coalition)

  1979-2011; 2015-current
 
Leganés   187 762 (5th) Miguel Ángel Recuenco 2023 PP

(Coalition)

  1979-2007; 2007-2011; 2015-2023
 
Mejorada del Campo   23 737 (33rd) Jorge Capa 2015 PSOE

(Majority)

  1978-1982
  1982-1995
  1995-1999
  1999-2011; 2015-current
 
Móstoles   209 639 (2nd) Manuel Bautista 2023 PP

(Coalition)

  1979-2003; 2015-2023
 
Parla   131 689 (9th) Ramón Jurado 2019 PSOE

(Coalition)

  1979-2015; 2019-current
 
Pinto   53 537 (22nd) Salomón Aguado 2023 PP

(Coalition)

  1979-1987
  1987-1995
  1995-2007; 2008-2011
  2015-2019
  2019-2023
 
Rivas-Vaciamadrid   92 925 (12th) Aída Castillejo 2022 IU

(Coalition)

  1987-1991
  1991-current
 
San Fernando de Henares   39 313 (25th) Francisco Javier Corpa 2019 PSOE

(Majority)

   1979-1991
  1991-1995
  1995-2015
 2015-2019
  2019-current
 
San Martín de la Vega   19 853 (36th) Rafael Martínez 2015 PSOE

(Majority)

  1979-2007; 2015-current
 
Velilla de San Antonio   12 542 (48th) Antonia Alcázar 2015 PSOE

(Coalition)

  1987-2009; 2015-current

Notes and references

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  1. ^ Oliveres, Victòria (2021-04-30). "Cómo la izquierda recuperó el cinturón rojo madrileño sumando al PSOE el auge de Podemos y Más Madrid". ElDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-05-10.
  2. ^ "Descalabro del PSOE en sus feudos del 'cinturón rojo' de Madrid". ELMUNDO (in Spanish). 2021-05-04. Retrieved 2021-05-10.
  3. ^ PLAZA, ANA MARTÍN (2021-05-08). "Elecciones Madrid 4M: La izquierda se desdibuja en el cinturón rojo de Madrid". RTVE.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-05-10.
  4. ^ H, Creada 18-04-2021 | 02:21 H/Última actualización 18-04-2021 | 23:09 (2021-04-18). "Del azul al rojo en diez años: así ha cambiado el mapa político de Madrid". La Razón (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-05-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Peinado, Fernando (2021-05-04). "Ayuso erosiona el cinturón rojo de la capital". EL PAÍS (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-05-10.
  6. ^ "Iglesias apela al 'cinturón morado' para 'echar a Mas'". ELMUNDO (in Spanish). 2015-09-15. Retrieved 2021-05-10.
  7. ^ CALLEJA, TONO; González, Jesús Sérvulo (2011-06-11). "Adiós al cinturón rojo". El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2021-05-10.
  8. ^ Escribano, Mario (2019-05-02). "El PSOE recupera el 'cinturón rojo' de Madrid a menos de un mes de las municipales". ElDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-05-10.
  9. ^ "Madrid (España): Provincia & Municipios - Estadísticas de población, gráficos y mapa". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 2022-11-15.