Velilla de San Antonio

At 05:15 the taxi drops you on Calle de la Constitución, headlights picking out shuttered balconies and the faint smell of bakery yeast. Velilla de San Antonio is still asleep, yet Barajas Terminal 1 is only twenty minutes away if the M-40 behaves. That single fact keeps a steady trickle of overnighting Brits here instead of in the capital’s overpriced airport hotels, but the village repays a longer pause if you arrive with modest expectations and decent walking shoes.

Flat terrain, big sky

The settlement sits 620 m above sea level on the wide vega of the Henares, one of those Castilian plateaus that looks level until you notice the river slicing a 10-metre gorge on the eastern edge. There are no crags to climb, no dramatic viewpoints, just an enormous sky that turns apricot at dusk and reflects off the irrigation canals. The altitude keeps nights cooler than Madrid—welcome relief in July—while winter mornings can start with hoar frost even when the capital stays above freezing. Come after a snowfall and the lanes to the vegetable plots turn to slush by 11 a.m.; come in April and the poplars release so much pollen that dark cars look dusty by noon.

A straightforward loop starts at the 1950s church of San Antonio de Padua, follows the allotments south for two kilometres, then cuts back along the river path. The surface is compacted earth, fine for trainers, and the only climb is the footbridge that returns you to town. Allow 45 minutes at strolling speed; dawn photographers should bring a long lens—kingfishers occasionally shoot along the deeper pools, though you will hear them more often than you see them.

Commuter calm, not postcard Spain

Velilla’s 13,000 inhabitants live mostly in five-storey brick blocks thrown up during the 1980s expansion, so the place lacks the stone-and-geranium aesthetic marketed by regional tourist boards. What it offers instead is everyday functionality: free street parking, cash machines that work, pavements wide enough for a pushchair. The weekly market sets up Tuesday morning on Avenida de la Constitución; arrive before 11:00 for the best tomatoes, leave with change from a fiver.

The historic core is two streets deep. Plaza Mayor acts as outdoor living room—grandparents on benches, teenagers circling on scooters—while the adjacent church houses an 18th-century gilded altarpiece that was rescued from a fire in 1972. Doors open for Mass at 19:00 on weekdays; slip in then, or ask at the parish office on Calle Carmen if someone will unlock it mid-morning. Donations welcome, photography permitted without flash.

Food that favours the hungry

Madrileño cooking dominates: slow-roasts, stews, plenty of bread to mop. Locals treat lunch as the main event; restaurants close their kitchens by 16:30 and dinner service rarely starts before 21:00. Three places consistently earn nods from visiting Brits:

• Quinta San Antonio, 200 m south of the plaza—order the cochinillo (suckling pig) for two; the waiter cracks the carcass with a plate, more theatre than strictly necessary. Fixed-price lunch menu €18, wine included. Book by Thursday for Sunday.
• Asador Pizarro Gastrobar—smaller portions, modern plating, will split bills without grimaces. Try the garlic prawns and the cheesecake baked in a wood oven.
• El Mirador on the square does a credible “English” breakfast (bacon, eggs, toast, filter coffee) until noon for €5.50, handy if your body clock is still on GMT.

Vegetarians manage best at Pizarro; elsewhere expect grilled vegetables doused in olive oil and the odd raised eyebrow.

Getting here, getting out

Train: Cercanías lines C-2 and C-7 leave Atocha every 15 min. Journey 25 min to Velilla station, then an eight-minute flat walk into town. Single ticket €2.40—buy at the red machines; contactless cards don’t work on suburban lines. Last service back to Madrid is 23:37; miss it and a cab costs €32.

Road: A-2 east to km 28, then exit 28A. Allow 35 min from central Madrid in light traffic, double that at rush hour. Street parking is free on blue bays after 14:00 Saturday and all day Sunday; otherwise use the underground car park beside the sports centre (€1.20 per day).

Airport: Pre-book a Cabify the night before for departures before 06:00; local taxis are thin on the ground and the rank opposite the town hall is usually empty at dawn.

Festivals and quiet months

Mid-June brings the patronal fiesta: brass bands, outdoor vermouth stalls, a communal paella that feeds half the town. August switches to inflatable castles and late-night disco on the polideportivo tarmac; both events are family-oriented rather than tourist spectacles, so expect fireworks but no English signage. Semana Santa processions are low-key—three pasos, one band, finished by 23:00—yet the scent of beeswax and orange blossom drifting through narrow streets can still stop passers-by in their tracks.

January and February feel empty. Many bars reduce hours, the river path turns muddy, and you will question the point of provincial travel. Conversely, April and late-October deliver the best compromise: daylight until 20:00, temperature hovering around 20 °C, and tables outside without the need for patio heaters.

Worth a detour—or just a stopover?

Velilla works as a gentle introduction to Castilian routine rather than a bucket-list highlight. Combine one riverside walk, a plate of roast lamb, and perhaps a side trip to the Roman ruins at nearby Alcalá de Henares (15 min by train) and you have a perfectly civilised half-day. Stay longer and the limitations show: no museums, no evening shopping, only one cashpoint that accepts foreign cards without charging a fortune.

Treat the place for what it is—a practical, unspectifiable satellite where real people live, work, and water their geraniums—and it justifies the short ride from Madrid. Expect cobbled hill-top magic and you will leave early, disappointed, and probably stuck in traffic on the A-2.