Torrejón de Ardoz () 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 go ...

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") , i ...

belonging to 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 ...

. The

European Union Satellite Centre The European Union Satellite Centre (EU SatCen; previously EUSC) is the agency of the European Union (EU) that supports the EU's decision-making in the field of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), including crisis management mission ...

(SatCen), an

agency of the European Union The agencies of the European Union (formally: ''Agencies, decentralised independent bodies, corporate bodies and joint undertakings of the European Union and the Euratom'') are bodies of the European Union and the Euratom established as juridica ...

, is located in Torrejón de Ardoz. It is also the location of the headquarters of the

Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial The Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial «Esteban Terradas» (INTA, ) is an autonomous agency of the Spanish public administration dependent on the Secretariat of State for Defence (SEDEF). It is responsible for the aerospace, aerona ...

(INTA), the Spanish

space agency This is a list of government agencies engaged in activities related to outer space and space exploration. As of 2022, 77 different government space agencies are in existence, 16 of which have launch capabilities. Six government space agencie ...

. The

Torrejón Air Base Torrejón Air Base (Base Aérea de Torrejón de Ardoz) is both a major Spanish Air and Space Force base and the co-located Madrid–Torrejón Airport, a secondary civilian airport for the city and metropolitan area of Madrid, east-northeast of t ...

Madrid–Torrejón Airport Madrid–Torrejón Airport is a commercial airport in central Spain, a joint-use facility between the Spanish Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Public Works. The civil part is dedicated primarily to executive and private aviation. Th ...

also lies on the municipality.

Etymology

''Torrejón'' comes from ''torre'' ("tower"); the suffix ''-jón'' is a diminutive that ultimately makes reference to the small or unimportant nature of the noun. The ''Ardoz'' add-on comes from the namesake creek.

History

While there is no certainty of the origin of Torrejón de Ardoz, it probably dates from the 12th century, associated to fortifications built to protect Alcalá de Henares. It was part of the Land of Alcalá for all purposes until 1554, when it was granted the status of town. In 1843 it was the place of a short battle between general Ramón Narvaez and senator Antonio Seoane, as part of the rebellion against

Espartero Baldomero Fernández-Espartero y Álvarez de Toro (27 February 17938 January 1879) was a Spanish marshal and statesman. He served as the Regent of the Realm, three times as Prime Minister and briefly as President of the Congress of Deputies. ...

.Torrejón Townhall website
The

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

jointly occupied the Torrejón Air Base, installed in 1955, under agreements made with Francisco Franco. The base was subject of criticism since its beginnings and a meeting place of pacifist demonstrations attended by progressives and ecologists. One of the election platforms of

Felipe González Felipe González Márquez (; born 5 March 1942) is a Spanish lawyer, professor, and politician, who was the Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) from 1974 to 1997, and the 3rd Prime Minister of Spain since the ...

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gove ...

(PSOE) was to close the base to the American fighter wing. Once González became prime minister, the lease of the then 401st Tactical Fighter Wing (now the 401st Air Expeditionary Group) was not renewed and the F-16 fighter wing left the base in the early 1990s.

Geography

Location

(Torrejón de Ardoz) Madrid ESA354454 (cropped)

It is located to the east of the city of

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

, near the A-2, the highway connecting Madrid and

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. With the city located at the right-bank (north) of the

Henares The Henares () is a river in Spain, tributary of the Jarama. It has its source in the Sierra Ministra, in the village of Horna, near Sigüenza, in the province of Guadalajara. Its tributaries are the Torote, the Sorbe, the Cañamares, the S ...

the relief of the municipality gently decreases in elevation from north to south. Three small creeks pass through the municipality emptying into the Henares. From West to East: Arroyo del Valle, Arroyo Pelayo, and Arroyo Ardoz. The highest point lies in the North of the municipality, standing at 623 m above sea level. The municipality has a total area of 32.49 km².

Climate

Famous people from Torrejón de Ardoz

;Artists *

El Chojin Domingo Edjang Moreno (born 28 April 1977), better known by his stage name El Chojin (pronounced as in Japanese , not with a Spanish ''J''), is a Spanish rapper and songwriter. He is the current Guinness World Record holder for most syllables ...

, rapper * Pilar Rubio, television presenter ;Military personnel * Frederick M. Padilla, U.S. Marine major general ;Politicians *

Kate Brown Katherine Brown (born June 21, 1960) is an American politician and attorney serving as the 38th governor of Oregon since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, she served three terms as the state representative from the 13th district of the ...

, governor of

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

;Sportpeople * David Andújar, footballer *

Wallace Bryant Wallace Gordon Bryant Jr. (born July 14, 1959) is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and other leagues. A , pound center, born in Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid, Spain), Bryant ...

, basketball player * Jorge Garbajosa, basketball player *

Guti José María Gutiérrez Hernández (born 31 October 1976), known as Guti, is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, currently a manager. During his career, he played almost exclusively for Real Madrid ...

, footballer * Antonio Guzmán Núñez, footballer * Kane, wrestler *

Sergio Mora Sergio Mora (born December 4, 1980) is an American former professional boxer. He is a former WBC light middleweight champion, and twice challenged for the WBA (Regular) middleweight title. He was the first winner of NBC's '' The Contender'' s ...

, footballer * Mario Rivillos Plaza, futsal player * Manuel Romero, footballer ;Crime * Patrick Nogueira, murderer. Lived with his uncle, aunt and cousins before his family moved to Pioz.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * *