The southernmost part of the Usera district, and a direct stop on the line 3 metro, is the neighborhood of San Fermín . For future newcomers of Spain, like every other city in Europe, Madrid in its entirety isn’t royal palace, royal church, and Instagram-worthy cafes on every corner. Regular, industrialized, working class neighborhoods do exist. Obviously San Fermín  was not my first choice of neighborhood living as a language assistant in Madrid, however I’ve still grown to almost kind of like the borough. 

Pros

No tourists whatsoever

In Madrid you absolutely cannot walk anywhere near the center without people asking you for money, trying to steal from you, hitting on you, ranting to you on an alcohol and drug-induced binge, or asking you to check out their club/restaurant/church/genitals. All city centers are a circus, but after a while it gets old when you’re just trying to go to the grocery store for a 88 cent, Milka Oreo chocolate bar. Madrid is my favorite city in Europe, but I don’t really to be in the center every single day. I typically avoid the center unless I’m going out on the weekends, because the hassle of dealing with millions of people at once is annoying. What I like about living in San Fermín is that it is not crowded, and the people who live here are mostly families and old people. When I told people that I would be moving to Usera, they frantically warned me of the evil gypsies and to be careful walking alone. First of all, I’ve learned not to ask certain people for neighborhood advice, and it’s so ignorant to assume that more than three brown people in a single location automatically constitutes an area “dangerous”. Like the majority of the Usera district, San Fermín is made up of predominately people of Latin American descent, and contrary to popular belief I’ve never *GASP* felt at all unsafe living here. That includes nearby boroughs such as Ciudad de los Angeles and Villaverde Bajo Cruce. Because unlike the center where everyone is scheming, people here mind their own damn business!!!!! I will say though that the very end of line 3, Villaverde Alto is rough looking, but I’m from the United States where shooting for sport is a thing so nothing really scares me anymore.

Cheap rent

My rent is only 350 euros, and that’s actually way too much to be paying for my apartment, but generally, rent for a room in Usera can start at a mere 275. I can’t speak for anyone else’s apartment, but it’s apparent that the lack of tourism in the area allows for cheap rent. It will be interesting to see if this area gets gentrified like Lavapies, as it is still on line 3 like Sol and Plaza de Espana and the more people who move here, the further people will be pushed from the center. Regardless of my non-hip piso, I’m still paying 100 euros less for a room than many other language assistants living in the center.

Everything you need is within walking distance

The nearest supermarkets to my apartment, Lidl and Mercadona (bae), are a five minute walk. There are tons of restaurants, locutorios, fruterias, a hiper bazaar, banks, and a huge park. Living in Spain as a foreigner can make you feel stupid at times. The simplest of tasks, like making a photo copy or recharging your phone can take ten times longer than needed, even moreso if you’re in the city center where places of business cater to tourists, not people actually living there. While I hate that everything except the kebab shop and the Chinese restaurant shuts down on Sunday in San Fermín , I love that I can literally leave my apartment in my pajamas to get what I need without catching a bus or the metro.

Spacious

Madrid as a whole is so congested with traffic, annoying tourists, annoying language assistants (including me), and all around just tons of people in a hurry but seemingly walking slow at the same time. One of the best things about living in San Fermín is that I have space to actually breathe! Especially if you’re coming with a dog, the center can be overwhelming for them. I wouldn’t necessarily call San Fermín dog-friendly due to the lack of doggy bags (resulting in dog poop everywhere), but there’s plenty of space to walk your dog unbothered.

Cons

Despite the sense of normalcy I get living in San Fermín, there are times where I really resent living in the neighborhood and wish I could have taken the time to find somewhere that met all of my needs. Because eight months, let alone a year, is a long time to commit to a place.

Too far from the center

My definition of ‘too far’ is somewhere that cannot be walked to in a maximum of 35 minutes. By metro, San Fermín is about fifteen minutes to Sol and twenty-five minutes to Moncloa, and in reality that’s really not long if you’re used to living in places where a car is required. But in Madrid time, that’s ages. I thought I could handle it at first, especially since my commute to the center as an au pair living in Rivas was almost double that, but when you have to commute an additional hour from Moncloa all the way to Villanueva de la Cañada, the commute fucking SUCKS. I don’t really do much during the week because of that, and on weekends if I want to go out I have to commit to STAYING out until the metro opens because I hate walking to and waiting for buses (buses N13 and N14 from Cibeles will take you back) . This definitely put a hinge on my social life because meeting people in cool bars and restaurants in the center was too much of a hassle for me during the week. My time in Madrid would have been a lot less stressful if I lived somewhere within walking distance of the center, because the walk from the center to San Fermín starts at an hour and at 4 AM drunk, that’s a pretty shitty idea.

There’s nothing to do

I love my old man bars for cheap drinks and free tapas, but not as a hangout spot. San Fermín has traditional Spanish bars  (and trust, it be the same old dudes posted up there at all hours of the day) which is cool, but I have no purpose going in them. Besides taking my dog out, I really don’t do anything socially here, nor do I invite others because there’s nothing of excitement besides turning up in Mercadona by picking out a few avocados for the weekend. The Caja Mágica, a huge events stadium, is a ten minute walk from my apartment but I have no business over there. Sometimes on weekend nights there will be people sitting on their porches, playing reggaeton music and drinking cervezas with their friends and families. It’s so cute and lowkey reminds of the “Hey Arnold” projects. I wish I had that, but I’m definitely the only foreigner for several kilometers and I’m definitely not invited to go turn up with them.

Move here if you’re boring and/or cheap

I think San Fermín is suitable for homebodies and people with pets on a budget, but for others who like easy accessibility to all of the major spots in Madrid and enjoy staying out late, as a language assistant I’d reccomend living in the center. While I do not hate the neighborhood itself and realize that an apartment is an apartment, the cost, for me, is not worth the FOMO. So many late-night karaoke nights, mid-week parties, and private lesson opportunities were missed because of distance and the hassle of commuting. Your experience as a language assistant will be hindered quite a bit, but still try to keep an open-mind and check out the area for yourself!