Arganzuela

Arganzuela (District 2) stretches south from the historic centre to the river Manzanares, entirely within the M-30 ring road. It borders Centro and Retiro to the north, Puente de Vallecas to the east, Usera to the south and Latina and Carabanchel across the river.

Its seven wards are Imperial, Las Acacias, La Chopera, Legazpi, Las Delicias, Palos de la Frontera and Atocha.

• With the arrival of the railway in the 19th century, the district developed as an industrial area; since the 1960s most industry has gone, replaced by homes, parks and cultural centres.
• Matadero Madrid, a former slaughterhouse, is now a major cultural centre with exhibitions and activities. The Railway Museum and the Madrid site of the National Museum of Science and Technology are also here.
• Neo-Mudéjar, rationalist and iron architecture, such as Matadero, the Joaquín Leguina regional library and Atocha station, recalls its industrial past.

• Atocha station, Spain's main long-distance station, with Cercanías lines C-2, C-3, C-4, C-5, C-7, C-8 and C-10; more Cercanías stops at Embajadores, Méndez Álvaro, Delicias and Pirámides.
• Metro: line 1 (Atocha area), line 3 (Embajadores, Palos de la Frontera, Delicias, Legazpi), line 5 (Pirámides, Acacias, Puerta de Toledo) and line 6 (Méndez Álvaro, Arganzuela-Planetario, Legazpi).

A mix of older apartment buildings and newer developments on former industrial and railway land. Asking rents are slightly below the city average.

Large parks are a strength: Madrid Río along the river and the Enrique Tierno Galván park, home to the Madrid Planetarium. Matadero hosts exhibitions and a wide range of activities.