Madrid

I

Introduction

Madrid, capital and largest city of Spain. It is also the capital of the autonomous region and province of Madrid. The city of Madrid is located near the center of the Iberian Peninsula and in the middle of the Meseta, Spain’s vast interior tableland. Madrid is Spain’s administrative, financial, and transportation center. The city is noted for its historical landmarks, museums, active street life, broad boulevards, and outdoor cafés.

Madrid lies in a region that Spaniards call the heart of Spain. The city’s average elevation is about 640 m (about 2,100 ft) above sea level, and it has an area of 607 sq km (234 sq mi). Although most of the city is fairly flat, the Meseta slopes upward toward the west, and mountains rise nearby. Two mountain ranges—the Sierra de Guadarrama and the Sierra de Gredos—divide the Meseta into northern and southern regions. The Sierra de Guadarrama rise steeply to the north of Madrid, while the Sierra de Gredos rise farther away, to the west. The nearby Guadarrama mountains are popular for daytrips from the city and for hiking and climbing.

The spectacular scenery of the Sierra de Guadarrama lies within the larger autonomous community of Madrid. This community, which encompasses the city of Madrid and neighboring areas, was created in 1983 as part of a countrywide policy of decentralization of power. It replaced the former province of Madrid and covers an area of 8,028 sq km (3,100 sq mi). The towns of el Escorial to the northwest of the capital and Aranjuez to the south are the sites of important royal palaces.

The small Manzanares River flows to the west and south of the city, and until about 1960 it marked Madrid’s western and southern boundaries. Since that time urbanization has spread across the river. Once a greenbelt at the edge of Madrid, the river is now bordered by high-speed roads that provide motorists with access to the center of the city. Farmland surrounds the developed part of the city.

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Although Madrid lies as far north as New York City and Chicago, its weather is mild most of the year. Winters in Madrid are fairly temperate because the Gulf Stream brings warm ocean water along the western coast of Spain and Portugal, and prevailing winds pull warm air inland. It is rare for Madrid to have more than a trace of snow; the average temperature in January ranges from 2°C (35°F) to 9°C (47°F). In contrast, summers can be hot, with July temperatures ranging from 17°C (63°F) to 31°C (87°F). The summer heat is often lessened in the evenings by winds from the Sierra de Guadarrama. These same winds, however, can make winter weather seem colder. The yearly rainfall varies considerably, but it averages 460 mm (18 in), about the same as Tucson, Arizona.

II

Madrid and Its Metropolitan Area

A

The Old City

The traditional heart of Madrid is a relatively small area of 3.9 sq km (1.5 sq mi). In 1656 King Philip IV had a city wall built around the area. Over the next 200 years the city grew through construction of taller buildings and the use of open land within the wall. The first major expansion outside the wall was to the east; this area, known as the Barrio de Salamanca, is still considered an exclusive neighborhood.

Major plazas and monuments mark the old inner city. On the west side of the Manzanares River is a large park known as the Casa de Campo (Country House). Overlooking it is the Royal Palace. The palace stands on the site of the older Alcázar Palace, which began as a medieval fortress. In the early 1500s the Alcázar was used as a hunting lodge, and it was remodeled by King Philip II after he established Madrid as his capital city in 1561. The current palace was built from 1738 to 1765 after a massive fire destroyed the Alcázar. Today the Royal Palace stands as a huge, neoclassical monument to the Spanish monarchy in the 1700s.

From the Royal Palace one can follow the old Calle Mayor (Main Street) a few blocks east to the equally imposing Plaza Mayor. Madrid has many plazas (large public squares lined with buildings), and the Plaza Mayor is one of the most notable. This plaza was built from 1617 to 1619 and served as the civic and economic center of Madrid until the end of the 19th century. It was used every day as a public market and was the scene of public ceremonies. It was also used as a bullring for royal festivals and held as many as 50,000 spectators. Now the Plaza Mayor is primarily a tourist center. A few blocks farther east along the Calle Mayor is the Puerta del Sol. Considered the center of Madrid, this plaza is the point from which distance is measured on highways leading away from the city.

From the Puerta del Sol the main east-west route through the old city continues as the Calle de Alcalá. This street runs a few more blocks east to the Plaza de Cibeles and the nearby Puerta de Alcalá. The Plaza de Cibeles is named after a statue of Cybele, the Roman goddess of nature. In the 18th century King Charles III placed the statue at the plaza, regarded as the main entrance to Madrid. Today the plaza is marked by the immense central post office, which was built in the early 20th century. The Calle de Alcalá continues eastward from the old city, passing the Plaza de Toros (bullring), which can accommodate 25,000 spectators. Though once on the eastern edge of Madrid, the Plaza de Toros is now surrounded by the city.

Running north-south from the Plaza de Cibeles is the most famous street of Madrid. The name of this tree-lined boulevard changes three times. The two oldest sections, the Paseo del Prado and the Paseo de Recoletos, made up the eastern edge of the city until it began to expand after 1850. The word prado means meadow or pasture in Spanish, and the area that is now the Paseo del Prado was an open meadow area until around 1740. Thereafter the Prado area was gradually developed into a combination of boulevards, walkways, and fountains lined with museums, libraries, and sidewalk cafés, as well as the royal Botanical Garden. The two older sections of the street are also near Madrid’s Retiro Park. Retiro means resting place or retreat in Spanish. This park began as the gardens around a royal palace and in the 1770s it became a public park. The third section of the famous three-part street is the Paseo de la Castellana, which runs north from the old city and was extended several times as the city grew. This boulevard is lined by the skyscrapers and high-rise apartment buildings typical of Madrid’s modern sections.

B

Surrounding Areas

Most of Madrid’s growth took place during the 20th century. Unlike many American cities, Madrid had few separately governed suburban cities on its borders until the 1970s. Madrid’s large and fast-growing metropolitan area incorporated towns and industrial suburbs that once were independent areas outside of the city. In 1975, when longtime authoritarian leader Francisco Franco died, this method of growth began to change. Since then the government has built superhighways and regional commuter railroads to encourage development of areas outside the city limits.

This growth created an industrial axis extending eastward along the highway and railroad to the city of Barcelona. During the 1960s and 1970s the towns of Vicalvaro, Canillejas, San Fernando de Henares, Torrejón de Ardoz, Vallecas, and Villaverde became industrial suburbs. As expansion continued in the 1980s and 1990s, this industrial zone extended south and west to Getafe, Leganés, Alcorcón, and Móstoles, and north and east to Alcobendas, San Sebastián de los Reyes, and Arganda. Residential expansion spread to the north.

III

City Life

Until 1975 Madrid’s growth was rapid but poorly planned. New areas received public services slowly, and large new skyscrapers destroyed the traditional ambience of many older districts. Since 1975, when Spain entered a new period of democratic government, Madrid has attempted to recover its traditional atmosphere. Many sections still have traditional open-stall markets, plazas, and narrow, cobbled streets that preserve the feeling of a small town. Elsewhere, city authorities have promoted the renovation of 19th-century neighborhoods by requiring that builders retain old building facades and construct modern buildings within them. As a result, many districts that date to the 19th and early 20th centuries retain a lively street life with small shops, café-bars, and family businesses. Increasingly, however, older businesses coexist with fast-food chains, supermarkets, and modern department stores.

The lively street life of the city reflects the kind of housing available to madrileños, as the people of Madrid are called. Most people live in apartment buildings, with stores and offices on the first one or two levels. While many people rent their apartments, most own them and participate in cooperatives that maintain the building. Because living spaces are small by American standards, madrileños do most of their socializing in the streets, bars, restaurants, and parks of their neighborhoods. Very wealthy areas north of the city have single family houses with gardens and yards similar to those in American suburbs. Many of the newest neighborhoods are collections of large apartment buildings standing in open fields. Most of them are now being built as planned neighborhoods with parks, playgrounds, and public swimming pools.

Until about 1960 Spain was a poor country, and most Spaniards had few modern conveniences. Now such appliances are common in the city’s apartment buildings. Although Madrid has a good subway system, buses, and commuter railroads that connect the city center with the outer districts, the city is choked with traffic. The large number of motor vehicles, combined with Madrid’s narrow streets, crowded apartment buildings, and scarce parking, makes traffic jams common.

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