Madrid (city)

I

Introduction

Madrid (city), city in central Spain, capital of the country and of the autonomous region and province of Madrid, on the Manzanares River. Located at an altitude of about 655 m (2,150 ft), Madrid is Spain's largest city and its administrative, financial, and transport centre. Population 3,128,600 (2006 estimate).

II

Economy

The large and fast-growing Madrid metropolitan area, incorporating such industrial suburbs as Villaverde, Barajas, and Getafe, vies with Barcelona as the nation's principal manufacturing centre. Major products include motor vehicles, aircraft, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, processed food, printed materials, and leather goods. The surrounding region is famous for agricultural produce—wheat, grapes, and olives. Large numbers of tourists visit the city each year. Banking and publishing are also important.

III

Places of Interest

The traditional centre of Madrid is the historic Puerta del Sol, a crescent-shaped square. Other major squares include the arcaded Plaza Mayor (begun 1617), where bullfights, executions of heretics, and other spectacles were staged in the 17th and 18th centuries; the large Plaza de la Cibeles, with fountains and a statue of Cybele (Mother Earth); and the Plaza de Toros Monumental, accommodating the bullring, to the north-east. The city has several tree-lined boulevards and is noted for its fashionable shops.

The Prado Museum, which exhibits famous paintings by El Greco, Francisco Goya, and Diego Velázquez, is a major landmark. Other landmarks include the massive Royal Palace (1737-1764), used for state functions; the 19th-century Royal Opera House; the 18th-century church of San Francisco el Grande; the National Archaeological Museum; the National Science Museum; the Museum of the Spanish People; and Buen Retiro park, with botanical and zoological gardens. Located in the metropolitan area are Zarzuela Palace, residence of the country's monarch, and the Royal Palace of El Pardo, built by Philip II (reigned 1556-1598) and formerly the home of Francisco Franco. The large granite Monastery of El Escorial, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984, and the Valley of the Fallen, a monument commemorating those who died in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), are nearby. Among the many institutions of higher education in the city are the University of Madrid, the Pontifical University (1892), the Autonomous University of Madrid (1968), the Polytechnic University of Madrid (1971), the Open University (1972), and the Royal Academy of Music (1830).

The city is home to two of Spain’s most successful football clubs. Real Madrid plays its home games at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, which has a capacity of around 75,000. The stadium, built in 1947, hosted the World Cup final in 1982. The Vincente Calderón stadium is the home ground of Atletico Madrid, and can seat around 57,500 spectators. A third team, Rayo Vallecano, plays at the Teresa Rivero stadium.

IV

History

Unlike other major Spanish cities, Madrid became important only after the 10th century, when it was first mentioned as a Moorish fortress, called Majrit or Magerit, guarding Toledo to the south. The fortress (Alcázar), situated where the Royal Palace now stands, was captured in 1083 by Alfonso I, King of Castile and León (reigned 1065-1109), who went on to drive the Moors from Toledo in 1085. Madrid remained small after the Re-conquest until Philip II moved the court to the city in 1561. Philip III (reigned 1598-1621) ruled from Valladolid before Madrid became the official capital in 1607.

Madrid subsequently grew rapidly and reached a peak of prosperity and importance in the 17th and 18th centuries. From 1808 until 1812 the city was ruled by Joseph Bonaparte, following a fierce battle in the Puerta del Sol square, immortalized in Goya's famous painting The Third of May, 1808 (1814-1815, Prado). Fighting occurred again during the Spanish Civil War, when the Loyalist city resisted a siege before capitulating to the Nationalists in 1939.

After World War II the city was marred by extensive poverty and overcrowding. In the 1960s the situation improved, mostly because of foreign investment. After Franco’s death in 1975, democratization efforts led to the first free municipal elections in 1979. The following years brought the restoration of the old centre and numerous improvements to the city’s infrastructure. A strong cultural and lifestyle trend, called Movida Madrileñna, emerged in the 1980s, emphasizing liberal artistic nightlife and changing the city’s popular image. In 1992 Madrid was named the European City of Culture. The Spanish capital has not, however, avoided being affected by the political problems facing the country, especially in connection with terrorist attacks by the separatist Basque organization ETA, including a bomb explosion in the central Colon Square in October 2001. In March 2004 the city’s railway network was hit by a series of simultaneous explosions, killing around 200 people—the worst terrorist attack in modern Spanish history.