Aravaca is a ward (''Barrio'') of the city 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 ...

, in

Moncloa-Aravaca Moncloa-Aravaca is a Districts of Madrid, district of the municipality of Madrid, Spain. It is located to the northwest of the city centre, spanning across both banks of the Manzanares River, Manzanares. It is made up of the neighborhoods of Arav ...

district. It is from the city centre, on the other side of Casa de Campo park. The population of the barrio is 29,547 (January 2006), divided into three areas: Aravaca (23,145),

Valdemarín Valdemarín is a ward (''barrio'') of Madrid belonging to the district of Moncloa-Aravaca. Its code number is 95 and, as of 2006, its population was of 4,000. Geography The ward is located in north-western area of the city, crossed by the Autopis ...

(4,000) and El Plantío (2,469)

History

During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, Aravaca was on the front line for three years in the Siege of Madrid (1936-39). One may still find military bunkers used by Franco's attacking troops in the parks and woods. The old town was completely devastated and was rebuilt in the forties. Dating from this years are the parish church and some houses in Baja de la Iglesia street, all designed in the old Castilian style. Until 1951, Aravaca was an independent city within Madrid province with its own town hall and mayor. During the long Spanish postwar period (1940-1959), millions of Spaniards left their homes in the poor provinces to migrate to industrial areas such as Madrid,

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

and the Basque Country. Aravaca grew quickly between 1950 and 1980 and became a middle-class residential suburb. From 1990, thanks to new urban plans, the population of Aravaca has doubled and the streets are now connected with the neighbouring town of

Pozuelo de Alarcón Pozuelo de Alarcón () is a municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Bordering the Moncloa-Aravaca district of Madrid proper to its west, Pozuelo de Alarcón is surrounded by large Mediterranean pine-tree forests: the Casa de Campo, the M ...

. The population today is about 30,000 people, mainly commuters who work in Madrid and in the metropolitan area. The public transport network is efficient with buses every 10 minutes to the centre, a railway station and a Metro line.

References

{{Coord, 40, 27, N, 3, 47, W, display=title, region:ES_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Wards of Madrid Moncloa-Aravaca