"You can trace the echoes of this historic rivalry by driving from roundabout to roundabout. Leganes (population 194,000) and Getafe (190,000) two cities in the Madrid region have always kept a wary eye on the neighbor across the way. Football, unsurprisingly, has perhaps best represented the competition between the two municipalities. Before both cities simultaneously reached the First Division, they spent a long time dueling in Second and Third Division."
"It was the late 1990s. While the fans vibrated inside unremarkable stadiums during those heated matches, real estate developers experimented with these towns as if they were playing Monopoly. The construction boom fueled growth south of Madrid, and each new development had the same cherry on top: a roundabout. In this way, Leganes and Getafe began competing in urban design as well, encouraged by their mayors. It was incredible, a roundabout frenzy."
Leganes (population 194,000) and Getafe (190,000) are neighboring cities in the Madrid region defined by a longstanding rivalry. Football rivalry intensified as both clubs progressed from lower divisions to the First Division in the late 1990s. A construction boom south of Madrid produced many new developments, each often capped by a roundabout, prompting a municipal competition in urban design encouraged by local mayors. Getafe used fighter jets on roundabouts due to an airbase, while Leganes filled intersections with an eclectic mix including a giant bed frame and a fighting bull. The exact number of roundabouts is unknown, yet both municipalities helped make Madrid the second European region with the most roundabouts. A local photographer captured the town-roundabout sunset at the end of Spain's COVID-19 lockdown, an act that stirred him.
Read at english.elpais.com
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