Arganda del Rey () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

and city of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

located in the

Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; es, Comunidad de Madrid ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. It is located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, and of the Central Plateau (''Meseta Central''). Its capital and largest munic ...

Geography

(Arganda del Rey) Madrid ESA354454 (cropped)

Located in the central part of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...

, the city lies at roughly 613 metres above sea level, not far from the junction of the

Jarama Jarama () is a river in central Spain. It flows north to south, and passes east of Madrid where the El Atazar Dam is built on a tributary, the Lozoya River. It flows into the river Tagus in Aranjuez. The Manzanares is a tributary of the Jaram ...

and Manzanares rivers. It has been ascribed either to the

Comarca de Alcalá Comarca de Alcalá is an historical ''comarca'' of Castile, located in what is now the east of the Community of Madrid, in Spain. Its head or capital city is Alcalá de Henares. Officially the Community of Madrid is not subdivided into formal '' ...

or the Alcarria de Alcalá natural regions. It is connected to Madrid by metro line 9, which upon exiting Madrid's city limits has sections that are both above and under ground.

History

The first permanent dwelling does not date back to the Arab presence in the

as it has been suggested.

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

Remains from the earlier

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

era have been found, and some

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined ...

s argue that the name of the municipality comes from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

''area canda'' ("white area"). In the Roman texts of

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

several cities are mentioned as pre-Roman habitations (Carpetanos) with Alternia (Arganda) among them. In the 11th century, Arganda was the home of the king of Spain for 20 years. It was conquered by the

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ� ...

, but there was no notable population expansion until the 14th century. The majority of historians believe that the population increase was due to the pestilence of 1348. Until 1581, Arganda belonged to the

archbishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

of Toledo. Philip II granted the title of Villa to the population, but the municipality's economic problems led to it being sold to the Raul Delgado in 1613. The people rebelled in what is known as Arganda's Riot. The municipality grew due to the wine industry and the construction of a railroad that connected Arganda to

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

in 1843. The beginning of the 20th century saw the development of a sugar plantation, which started a process of industrialization and of great demographic expansion. The

Battle of Jarama The Battle of Jarama (6–27 February 1937) was an attempt by General Francisco Franco's Nationalists to dislodge the Republican lines along the river Jarama, just east of Madrid, during the Spanish Civil War. Elite Spanish Legionnaires and ...

took place near the town. In the 1960s, industrial growth brought another

population explosion Overpopulation or overabundance is a phenomenon in which a species' population becomes larger than the carrying capacity of its environment. This may be caused by increased birth rates, lowered mortality rates, reduced predation or large scale m ...

. In 1960, Arganda had 6,000 inhabitants, and this grew to 22,000 inhabitants in 1981. The majority of the expansion came from the immigration of people of

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...

n and

Extremadura Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, it ...

n origin. More recently another inflow of migrants, mainly from

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...

, has led to a population in excess of 50,000 inhabitants. Arganda del Rey is one of the most indebted councils of Spain, owing over €100m, mainly owing to money wasted on secret projects from the previous Partido Popular-led council. This includes an underground sports centre that was built by construction companies tied in with the

Gürtel case The Gürtel case is a political corruption scandal in Spain, which implicates officers of the People's Party (PP), Spain's major conservative party, some of whom have been forced to resign or have been suspended. Gürtel is one of the largest ...

which was completely hidden to the public, abandoned since 2008 and only recently discovered, and which cost €12m instead of the budgeted €2m.

Tourism

Historical buildings

* Church of San Juan Bautista, built between 1696 and 1714, mixing gothic, renaissance and baroque styles. This is one of the best conserved churches around the area. Its façade can be seen in Buñuel's film, ''

Viridiana ''Viridiana'' () is a 1961 Spanish-Mexican film directed by Luis Buñuel and produced by Gustavo Alatriste. It is loosely based on the 1895 novel ''Halma'' by Benito Pérez Galdós. The film was the co-winner of the Palme d'Or at the 1961 Canne ...

'', as exteriors were filmed here. * Hermitage of Valtierra, in Valtierra's former medieval village. It was built in

Mudéjar Mudéjar ( , also , , ca, mudèjar , ; from ar, مدجن, mudajjan, subjugated; tamed; domesticated) refers to the group of Muslims who remained in Iberia in the late medieval period despite the Christian reconquest. It is also a term for M ...

style in the first half of the 13th century. Presently in ruins, the remains include the north front wall, the south wall and part of the west wall. * Hermitage of Vilches, a

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...

building of the 17th century. The remains are 3 kilometres from the urban centre of Arganda.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20081230213051/http://www.waniewski.de/id213.htm cross dipole antenna Arganda {{DEFAULTSORT:Arganda Del Rey Municipalities in the Community of Madrid