Alcorcón () is a city and

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

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

located in the

Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities and 50 provinces of Spain, provinces of Spain. It is located at the heart of the Iberian Peninsula and Meseta Central, Central Plateau (); its capital and largest munici ...

. As of 2022, it had a population of 170,296.

Geography

The municipality, largely flat, lies at an average altitude of 711 metres above sea level, with the highest point being El Ventorro del Cano (741 m), located in the north of the municipality.

History

The site appears to have been inhabited since prehistoric times. The name is of Arabic origin, but little is known of Alcorcón before the

Reconquista The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...

. The first recorded written reference to Alcorcón is in a court document (') dated on 28 July 1208, in the context of the territorial strife over between the city councils of

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

and

Segovia Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia. Segovia is located in the Meseta central, Inner Pl ...

that took place in the Middle Ages. The parish church, Santa María la Blanca dates back to the 16th and 17th centuries. Alcorcón preserved an urban structure characteristic of a small rural settlement until the 1960s. The centre is surrounded by modern developments, as Alcorcón has grown rapidly since that decade. As announced in February 2013, Alcorcón was the tentative building site for the Eurovegas casino resort project, but the proposed development was canceled in December 2013.

Economy

Agriculture and animal husbandry are hardly performed, and only a 0.04% of the GDP of the municipality is collected from these activities. Mining, industry and power economy activities produce the 11.09% of the money collected of this economy measure. 8.17% of the registers to an organism of the Welfare System named ''Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social'' (in which people must be registered when being hired), were linked to the organism by jobs of this sector. Construction activities make 7.28% of the GDP, and 10.65% of the registers in ''Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social'' are due to posts in the sector. 10.57% of the inhabitants work in the trade and hotel industry sectors, and 12.37% have transportation and stock posts.

Transport

Alcorcón is linked to Madrid by Metro Line 10, Line 12, and Line 3 (Metro Ligero),

Cercanías The commuter rail systems of Spain's major metropolitan areas are called ''Cercanías'' () in most of Spain, ''Rodalia'' () in the Valencian Community, ''Aldiriak'' () in the Basque Country and ''Rodalies'' () in Catalonia. There are twelve ''C ...

line C-5 and several buses (511, 512, 513, 514, 516, 518, 536, 541, 545, 546, 547, 548, 551, N501, N502, N504).

Main sights

Some sights that have special historical, artistic or cultural values are listed below: * San José de Valderas Castles: They have a Gothic Revival architectural style. * Santa María la Blanca Parish Church * Glass art museum

Sport

The city is home to the football team Agrupación Deportiva de Alcorcón that plays in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

. And also Trival Valderas that plays in the

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

. Alcorcón also has an American football team called Alcorcón Smilodons, whose colors are yellow and navy blue.

Health

Alcorcón has two hospitals, the Fundación Hospital de Alcorcón (which is state owned, but run privately), and the Hospital Sur Madrid (a totally private hospital). The Alcorcón campus of the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (URJC) teaches health-related courses.

City partnerships

Mayarí Mayarí is a municipality and town in the Holguín Province of Cuba. History The origins of the city date back to 1757 in Spanish Cuba, when the first farms were established here by immigrant colonists. On 19 January 1879 the city became the se ...

(Cuba) * Nejapa (El Salvador) * Ancón (Peru) *

Al Hoceima Al Hoceima () is a city in the north of Morocco, on the northern edge of the Rif Mountains and on the Mediterranean coast. It is the capital city of the Al Hoceima Province. The city is a known tourist destination despite its small size. It has ...

(Morocco) * Daira of Bu Craa (in the Sahrawi refugee camps near Tinduf, Algeria)

People

La Terremoto de Alcorcón María José Charro Galán, better known under her stage name La Terremoto de Alcorcón or La Terremoto (), and also as Pepa Charro, is a Spanish singer born in Madrid, Spain. She grew up in Alcorcón and studied languages. She went to the Unit ...

, singer

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alcorcon Municipalities in the Community of Madrid