[3] The city proper's altitude gently decreases from the Northwest to the Southeast; the lowest areas in the municipality (slightly over 600 metres above sea level) are located in the East, past the A-42 near the border with Getafe.

[4] The southeast of the municipality is covered by the Polígono Cobo Calleja [es], a huge economic area overwhelmingly dedicated to the wholesale distribution of Chinese imports (considered the biggest one in Europe in the latter regard).

[12] The founding of the village of Fuenlabrada has been tentatively traced to the late 14th century, populated by the dwellers of the nearby settlements of Loranca, Albas and Fregacedos, which had been simultaneously depopulated.

[15] Following the end of the 1936–1939 Civil War, in which some parts of Fuenlabrada endured serious damage, the Dirección General de Regiones Devastadas undertook some building works in the municipality during the 1940s and 1950s.

Mayors Throughout its modern democratic history, the municipality of Fuenlabrada has been always ruled by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party of the Community of Madrid, belonging to the so-called "red belt" of the region.

Fuenlabrada witnessed a dramatic population explosion in the 1980s, due to large scale immigration of young workers coming from the capital city and other agrarian regions (chiefly Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha, Andalusia and Galicia) seeking affordable prices in housing.

The Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (URJC) has a secondary campus in the city, housing the faculties of communication sciences, telecommunications engineering, tourism, business administration, among other courses.