The first recorded human activity in the area of Hortaleza was the existence of a nomadic or semi-nomadic population in the Paleolithic and Neolithic eras, as attested to by the findings of numerous prehistoric tools in sites in the Valdebebas stream and in the historical center of Hortaleza itself, which were discovered at the end of the 19th century by the archaeologist Dr. Javier Pastor Muñoz.

It is believed that the town was founded by Mozarabs from Madrid who used it to spend the summer.

[1] In 2005, persons from France made up 1,424 of the residents, as a French community formed around the Lycée Français de Madrid main campus.

In Hortaleza, the French are the third largest foreign group after the Ecuadorians and Colombians, and there are more French speakers in Hortaleza than those of Moroccan Arabic, Peruvian Spanish, and Romanian.

11,500 apartment units were planned for Ciudad Aeroportuaria-Valdebebas, another development in Hortaleza.