VICALVARO RELIVES ITS HISTORY WITH A RECREATION OF MAY 2, 1808

2025/04/29

Next Thursday, May 1st, at 5:30 pm , Cordel de Pavones Park , in the Vicálvaro district, will host a historical reenactment that will transport attendees to the events of the May 2nd, 1808, uprising , during the Spanish Peninsular War . This free activity offers a unique opportunity to learn about the role this Madrid enclave played in one of the most decisive episodes in Spanish history.

At that time, Vicálvaro was an independent municipality , strategically located between Madrid and the eastern peninsula. This position made it a key military transit point . It already had a barracks, the Vicálvaro Cavalry Barracks , which housed units of the Spanish army since the 18th century. When the popular revolt against the French occupation broke out in Madrid on May 2, 1808, the news quickly reached this military detachment .

Although many Spanish officers remained undecided, obeying the Governing Junta's order not to openly confront the French, numerous soldiers sympathized with the popular cause . Some units left for Madrid, though in many cases too late to participate in the main clashes. However, they did intervene in the following days , when French repression intensified.

Vicálvaro was the scene of both French and patriotic military movements, being an obligatory passage to Guadalajara, Alcalá de Henares and the Henares Corridor . As occurred in other towns in the area, the municipality suffered the consequences of the war: looting, requisitions and forced settlements , which seriously affected its economy and the daily lives of its inhabitants.

With this reenactment, Vicálvaro pays tribute to its historical memory and recovers a key episode that connects the present with its past. An activity designed for all audiences that invites people to reflect, learn, and relive history in the very place where it was written.