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.