Aravaca is a ward (''Barrio'') 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 metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), an ...

, in Moncloa-Aravaca district. It is from the city centre, on the other side of

Casa de Campo The Casa de Campo (, for Spanish: ''Country House'') is the largest public park in Madrid. It is situated west of central Madrid, Spain. It gets its name 'Country House' because it was once a royal hunting estate, located just west of the Ro ...

park. The population of the barrio is 29,547 (January 2006), divided into three areas: Aravaca (23,145), Valdemarín (4,000) and El Plantío (2,469)

History

During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

, 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 Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ...

'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. The church is erected in the place of an old castle which dominated the fertile valley of the small Arroyo Pozuelo stream. Until 1951, Aravaca was an independent city within

Madrid province 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 munici ...

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 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 ...

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

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 ...

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