Madrid - the Capital City
With a population of over 5 million (3.5 mn in the inner city), Madrid is Spain’s largest city and its governmental and commercial centre; it is also an important industrial town. The city lies 640 m above sea level and in a rather exposed position so the climate can be very hot in summer and very cold in winter.
The main street is Paseo de la Castellana and the business area is located in the adjacent side streets. Almost all major businesses, both Spanish and foreign, have their headquaters in the city.
A little about the History of Spain
Palaeolithic Man has left his mark on the Iberian peninsula in the famous rock paintings of Altamira, to the south-west of Santander. Much later the south and east were inhabited by Iberians and by Celtic tribes from beyond the Pyrenees. Colonies were established by the Phoenicians, notably at Cádiz, and the Greeks, and the country was settled by Carthaginians, Romans, Visigoths, Vandals and Suebians. At the beginning of the 700 AD most of the land fell under Moorish domination. The Moors established a separate Caliphate, with Cordoba as its capital, and under Moorish rule agricultural methods were improved, new industries introduced and the arts patronised. The Christians reconquered the south and by the mid-1200 they had regained control of the entire country, apart from the kingdom of Granada.
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