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115-642: The Political-Social Brigade originated at the beginning of the 20th century, with the creation of the Information Brigade and the Brigade of Anarchism and Socialism as units to combat anarchism and the growing labor movement . At the end of the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera , the Social Investigation Division was created by General Emilio Mola and headed by Commissioner Santiago Martín Báguenas . The brigade's immediate roots were in

230-426: A strike and ranks would swell. Usually, repression by police reduced the numbers again, but at the same time further radicalized many strikers. This cycle helped lead to an era of mutual violence at the beginning of the 20th century in which armed anarchists and pistoleros , armed men paid by company owners, were both responsible for political assassinations. In the 20th century, this violence began to fade, and

345-401: A 0.8 km (0.31 sq mi) periurban park as well as municipal garden centres and compost plants. Madrid has a cold semi-arid climate ( Köppen BSk ), transitioning to a Mediterranean climate (Csa) in the western half. The city has continental influences. Winters are cool due to its altitude, which is approximately 667 m (2,188 ft) above sea level and distance from

460-485: A centralized government. The most influential proponent of mutualism in Spain was the federal republican Francesc Pi i Margall (named, upon his death, "the wisest of the federalists, almost an anarchist" by anarchist thinker Ricardo Mella ), who in his book Reacción y Revolución wrote that "every man who has power over another is a tyrant" and called for the "division and subdivision of power". Another disciple of Proudhon

575-490: A confession. Blas Pérez González , Minister of Governance from 1942 to 1957, was the main organizer of the brigade and the Francoist police. Commissioner Roberto Conesa , appointed to head the brigade during the last years of Francoism and the transition to democracy , was notorious among the clandestine left-wing sector for his brutal methods of interrogation and torture. A prominent police officer, Melitón Manzanas (head of

690-510: A declaration of war calling all the Spaniards to fight against the French invaders. The city was invaded on 24 May 1823 by a French army—the so-called Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis —called to intervene to restore the absolutism of Ferdinand that the latter had been deprived from during the 1820–1823 trienio liberal . Unlike other European capitals, during the first half of the 19th century

805-646: A focus on direct action and a militant anti-clericalism , also began to rise to prominence in Spain. The earliest successful attempt to introduce anarchism to the Spanish masses was undertaken by a middle-aged Italian revolutionary named Giuseppe Fanelli . An early partisan of the Young Italy movement, during the Italian Revolution Fanelli had given up his career to participate in the Risorgimento under

920-504: A headland near the river Manzanares as one of the many fortresses he ordered to be built on the border between Al-Andalus and the kingdoms of León and Castile , with the objective of protecting Toledo from the Christian reconquests and also as a starting point for Muslim offensives. After the disintegration of the Caliphate of Córdoba in the early 11th century, Madrid was integrated in

1035-531: A number of monuments and cultural institutions. The reforms enacted by his Sicilian minister were however opposed in 1766 by the populace in the so-called Esquilache Riots , a revolt demanding to repeal a clothing decree banning the use of traditional hats and long cloaks aiming to curb crime in the city. In the context of the Peninsular War , the situation in French-occupied Madrid after March 1808

1150-644: A period of dispersion, the Federation of Workers of the Spanish Region disappeared, to be replaced by the Anarchist Organization of the Spanish Region .... This organization then changed, in 1890, into the Solidarity and Assistance Pact, which was itself dissolved in 1896 because of repressive legislation against anarchism and broke into many nuclei and autonomous workers' societies.... The scattered remains of

1265-579: A radial system of communications and transports for the country through public investments. Philip V built the Royal Palace, the Royal Tapestry Factory and the main Royal Academies. The reign of Charles III , who came to be known as "the best mayor of Madrid", saw an effort to turn the city into a true capital, with the construction of sewers, street lighting, cemeteries outside the city and

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1380-452: A radical movement in 19th century Spain was found amongst the followers of the ideas laid out by the French anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon . Mutualism had a considerable influence on the Spanish cooperativist movement , which advocated for a peaceful and gradualist approach to defeating capitalism , as well as the federalist movement , which envisioned a society of local municipalities joining together and coordinating without any need for

1495-472: A result, all the workers that were present at the meeting declared themselves in support of the International and Fanelli subsequently extended his stay in the city, holding "propaganda sessions" with the nascent anarchist adherents - paying particular attention to Anselmo Lorenzo. On January 24, 1869, Fanelli held his last meeting with the anarchist workers of Madrid, in which they declared the establishment of

1610-518: A severe housing shortage. Slums and squalor grew due to high population growth and the influx of the poor to the city. Construction of affordable housing failed to keep pace and increased political instability discouraged economic investment in housing in the years immediately prior to the Civil War. Anti-clericalism and Catholicism lived side by side in Madrid; the burning of convents initiated after riots in

1725-750: A transported ancient Egyptian temple. Other urban parks are the Parque de El Capricho , the Parque Juan Carlos I (both in northeast Madrid), Madrid Río , the Enrique Tierno Galván Park  [ es ] , the San Isidro Park  [ es ] as well as gardens such as the Campo del Moro (opened to the public in 1978) and the Sabatini Gardens (opened to the public in 1931) adjacent to

1840-580: Is José Luis Martínez-Almeida from the People's Party . The origin of the name is unknown. There are various theories regarding the origin of the toponym "Madrid" (all of them with problems when it comes to fully explaining the phonetic evolution of the toponym), namely: Nicknames for Madrid include the plural Los Madriles and La Villa y Corte ( lit.   ' the town and court ' ). The site of modern-day Madrid has been occupied since prehistoric times, and there are archaeological remains of

1955-502: Is estimated to be around 200,000. Madrid Madrid ( / m ə ˈ d r ɪ d / mə- DRID ; Spanish: [maˈðɾið] ) is the capital and most populous municipality of Spain . It has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and its monocentric metropolitan area

2070-726: Is located on the hills next to the left bank of the Manzanares River. The city grew to the east, reaching the Fuente Castellana Creek  [ es ] (now the Paseo de la Castellana ), and further east reaching the Abroñigal Creek  [ es ] (now the M-30 ). The city also grew through the annexation of neighbouring urban settlements, including those to the South West on

2185-568: Is the second-largest in the EU. The municipality covers 604.3 km (233.3 sq mi) geographical area. Madrid lies on the River Manzanares in the central part of the Iberian Peninsula at about 650 meters above mean sea level. The capital city of both Spain and the surrounding autonomous community of Madrid (since 1983), it is also the political, economic, and cultural centre of

2300-468: The 1960s Spanish economic boom , while the south-eastern periphery became a large working-class area, which formed the base for active cultural and political movements. After the fall of the Francoist regime, the new 1978 constitution confirmed Madrid as the capital of Spain. The 1979 municipal election brought Madrid's first democratically elected mayor since the Second Republic to power. Madrid

2415-511: The Celtic Carpetani settlement, Roman villas , a Visigoth basilica near the church of Santa María de la Almudena and three Visigoth necropolises near Casa de Campo, Tetuán and Vicálvaro. The first historical document about the existence of an established settlement in Madrid dates from the Muslim age. In the second half of the 9th century, Umayyad Emir Muhammad I built a fortress on

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2530-993: The Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB), the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI), and the Public Interest Oversight Board (PIOB). It also hosts major international regulators and promoters of the Spanish language: the Standing Committee of the Association of Spanish Language Academies, headquarters of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), the Instituto Cervantes and the Foundation of Urgent Spanish ( Fundéu RAE). Madrid organises fairs such as FITUR, ARCO, SIMO TCI and

2645-701: The Madrid Fashion Week . Madrid is home to two world-famous football clubs, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid . While Madrid possesses modern infrastructure, it has preserved the look and feel of many of its historic neighbourhoods and streets. Its landmarks include the Plaza Mayor , the Royal Palace of Madrid ; the Royal Theatre with its restored 1850 Opera House; the Buen Retiro Park , founded in 1631;

2760-576: The Nationalist faction during the Spanish Civil War . A 24 June 1938 decree created a bureau for "the control of matters in political action" and the "prevention and repression" of any activities which "obstruct or deviate" the "general guidelines of the government". Many of its first members came from the Information and Military Police Service (SIPM), the Francoist secret service during the war which

2875-446: The Taifa of Toledo . In the context of the wider campaign for the conquest of the taifa of Toledo initiated in 1079, Madrid was seized in 1083 by Alfonso VI of León and Castile , who sought to use the town as an offensive outpost against the city of Toledo, in turn conquered in 1085. Following the conquest, Christians occupied the center of the city, while Muslims and Jews were displaced to

2990-560: The gentrification and the spike of tourist apartments in the city centre) and the profusion of betting shops in working-class areas, leading to an "epidemic" of gambling among young people. Madrid lies in the centre of the Iberian peninsula on the southern Meseta Central , 60 km south of the Guadarrama mountain range and straddling the Jarama and Manzanares river sub-drainage basins, in

3105-623: The 10 m (108 sq ft) per inhabitant recommended by the World Health Organization. A great bulk of the most important parks in Madrid are related to areas originally belonging to the royal assets (including El Pardo, Soto de Viñuelas, Casa de Campo, El Buen Retiro, la Florida and the Príncipe Pío hill , and the Queen's Casino). The other main source for the "green" areas are the bienes de propios  [ es ] owned by

3220-417: The 1930s, Miguel Giménez Igualada edited the individualist anarchist magazine Nosotros , in which many works of Han Ryner and Émile Armand appeared, and also participated in the publishing of another individualist anarchist magazine Al Margen: Publicación quincenal individualista . In his youth he engaged in illegalist activities. Igualada's thought was deeply influenced by Stirner, of which he

3335-595: The 19th-century National Library building (founded in 1712) containing some of Spain's historical archives; many national museums, and the Golden Triangle of Art , located along the Paseo del Prado and comprising three art museums: Prado Museum , the Reina Sofía Museum , a museum of modern art , and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum , which complements the holdings of the other two museums. The mayor

3450-559: The Bourbon army on 4 August 1706. The Habsburg army led by the Archduke Charles entered the city for a second time  [ es ] in September 1710, leaving the city less than three months after. Philip V entered the capital on 3 December 1710. Seeking to take advantage of the Madrid's location at the geographic centre of Spain, the 18th century saw a sustained effort to create

3565-660: The City Council. They were the main infrastructure for the supply of water until the arrival of the Canal de Isabel II in the mid-19th century. Madrid derives almost 73.5 percent of its water supply from dams and reservoirs built on the Lozoya River , such as the El Atazar Dam . This water supply is managed by the Canal de Isabel II, a public entity created in 1851. It is responsible for

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3680-519: The Column in spirit and tactical ability; they were eventually incorporated, by decree, into the regular army. Over a quarter of the population of Barcelona attended Durruti's funeral. It is still uncertain how Durruti died; modern historians tend to agree that it was an accident, perhaps a malfunction with his own gun or a result of friendly fire, but widespread rumors at the time claimed treachery by his men; anarchists tended to claim that he died heroically and

3795-586: The Democratic Justice group of judges, prosecutors and lawyers deepened the Political-Social Brigade's repression. Democratic Justice reported that police torture was practiced with impunity and civil rights were suspended during multiple states of emergency from the 1960s to Francisco Franco 's death in 1975, primarily in three regions: the Basque Country , Catalonia and Madrid . According to

3910-649: The FRE gave rise to Solidaridad Obrera in 1907, the immediate antecedent of the [CNT]." An uprising took place in December 1933. Aside from a prison break in Barcelona, no gains were made by revolutionaries before the police quelled the revolt in Catalonia and most of the rest of the country. Zaragoza saw ephemeral insurrection in the form of street fighting and the occupation of certain buildings. Spanish individualist anarchism

4025-661: The Franco era (including Political-Social Brigade files). Other archives, such as those identifying members of the secret police responsible for the surveillance and monitoring of opposition members, were presumably destroyed. The brigade was integrated within the General Commissariat of Public Order, dependent on the General Police Corps (CGP). This, in turn, depended on the Directorate-General of Security (DGS) and

4140-406: The International's Basel Congress as a delegate for the Spanish sections, where he joined Bakunin's " International Alliance of Socialist Democracy ". Anarchism had soon taken root throughout Spain, in villages and in cities , and in scores of autonomous organizations. Many of the rural pueblos were already anarchic in structure prior to the spread of "anarchist" ideas. In February 1870,

4255-722: The Law on the Operation of the Superior Police Headquarters and the Law on Surveillance and Security. In addition to its own investigative work, the brigade could count on reports from the Falange's Information and Investigation Service , which also functioned as a political police. A 1949 British report described the brigade: The activities of the Brigade are based on the Nazi model, ensuring systematic surveillance of all suspected enemies of

4370-434: The Madrid chapter of the International had gained roughly 2,000 members. Fanelli then returned to Barcelona where he held another meeting, attracting a number of more radical students such as Rafael Farga i Pellicer to the idea of anarchism, which subsequently gained a much larger following in Barcelona, already a bastion of proletarian rebellion, Luddism , and trade unionism . In May 1869, Farga i Pellicer spearheaded

4485-657: The Madrid section of the IWA published in La Solidaridad a call for all Spanish sections to convene a national workers' congress, which was eventually decided would be held in Barcelona. On June 18, 1870, the First Spanish Workers' Congress convened at the Teatro Circo Barcelonés , where delegates from 150 workers' associations met, along with thousands of common workers observing ("occupying every seat, filling

4600-479: The Madrid section of the IWA. Fanelli explained his decision to leave Spain was so that the anarchists there could develop themselves and their groups "by their own efforts, with their own values," in order to maintain spontaneity , plurality and individuality within the workers' movement . The anarchists of the Madrid section subsequently began to spread their ideas by holding meetings, giving speeches, and publishing their newspaper La Solidaridad . By 1870,

4715-460: The Manzanares. Other large forested areas include the Soto de Viñuelas , the Dehesa de Valdelatas  [ es ] and the Dehesa de la Villa  [ es ] . As of 2015, the most recent big park in the municipality is the Valdebebas Park. Covering a total area of 4.7 km (1.8 sq mi), it is sub-divided in a 3.4 km (1.3 sq mi) forest park (the Parque forestal de Valdebebas-Felipe VI  [ es ] ),

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4830-417: The Ministry of Governance. During its early years of history, it also had Falangist elements. When the Civil Guard operated in cities, it was integrated into the brigade. Spanish Maquis guerrilla activity, such as the 1944 urban guerrilla warfare in Granada . occasionally triggered intervention by special BPS units. Its agents depended on the governors and the Ministry of Governance, and its repression

4945-425: The Puerto de El Berrueco and the Puerto de Lozoya. Beginning in 1188, Madrid had the right to be a city with representation in the courts of Castile. In 1202, Alfonso VIII gave Madrid its first charter to regulate the municipal council, which was expanded in 1222 by Ferdinand III . The government system of the town was changed to a regimiento of 12 regidores by Alfonso XI on 6 January 1346. Starting in

5060-400: The Royal Palace. Further west, across the Manzanares, lies the Casa de Campo , a large forested area with more than 1700 hectares (6.6 sq mi) where the Madrid Zoo , and the Parque de Atracciones de Madrid amusement park are located. It was ceded to the municipality following the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931. The Monte de El Pardo is the largest forested area in

5175-412: The Spanish individualist anarchist press was widely read by members of anarcho-communist groups and by members of the anarcho-syndicalist trade union CNT. There were also the cases of prominent individualist anarchists such as Federico Urales and Miguel Giménez Igualada who were members of the CNT and J. Elizalde who was a founding member and first secretary of the Iberian Anarchist Federation . In

5290-424: The Spanish individualist press. Armand's concept of amorous camaraderie had an important role in motivating polyamory as realization of the individual. Historian Xavier Diez wrote on the subject in El anarquismo individualista en España: 1923-1938 . Utopia sexual a la prensa anarquista de Catalunya. La revista Ética-Iniciales (1927–1937) deals with free love thought in Iniciales . Diez reports that

5405-427: The aegis of a wider coordinated urban planning. Madrid grew through the annexation of neighboring municipalities, achieving the present extent of 607 km (234.36 sq mi). The south of Madrid became heavily industrialized, and there was significant immigration from rural areas of Spain. Madrid's newly built north-western districts became the home of a newly enriched middle class that appeared as result of

5520-416: The anarchists in its fundamental operations. One exception was Durruti..." ( Memorias de Dolores Ibarruri , p. 382). The column began with 3,000 troops, but at its peak was made up of about 8,000 men. They had a difficult time getting arms from a fearful Republican government, so Durruti and his men compensated by seizing unused arms from government stockpiles. Durruti's death on November 20, 1936, weakened

5635-539: The anarchists, who advocated for abstentionism and direct action , and the "politicians", during which congress took a line of compromise regarding electoralism: allowing individual members to participate in elections if they wished, but also committing itself officially to abstentionism and anti-statism. Congress also adopted a "dual structure" for the FRE-AIT whereby workers would be organized into both trade unions based on their profession and local federations based on their location, which could then federate together from

5750-469: The argument of the need for torture as a method of investigation so as not to leave the state unarmed. Torture, ill-treatment and humiliation of detainees (including "beatings with a baton and wet towels, cigarette burns and cuts with razor blades") were still frequently carried out in BPS offices as late as 1975, near the end of the Francoist Spain . The powers of the BPS were restricted by decrees which were approved in 1976, 1977 and 1981. The last decree

5865-423: The basic principle of " From each according to his ability, to each according to his need ." In some places, money was entirely eliminated, to be replaced with vouchers. Numerous sources attest that industrial productivity doubled almost everywhere across the country and agricultural yields being "30–50%" larger, demonstrated by Emma Goldman, Augustin Souchy , Chris Ealham , Eddie Conlon, Daniel Guerin and others. Of

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5980-401: The bottom-up, laying an anti-bureaucratic and decentralist foundation for syndicalism in Spain. During the Cantonal rebellion , several independent cantons rose against the First Spanish Republic . Anarchism had a considerable influence in this series of insurrections especially in the Canton of Cartagena , which was the only canton to last more than a few days. The anarchist idea

6095-403: The brigade in Guipúzcoa ), was also known for brutal torture during interrogation. Manzanas was assassinated in 1968 by ETA . Another police officer who stood out for violent methods during interrogations at Directorate-General of Security (DGS) headquarters was Antonio González Pacheco (known as "Billy the Kid"). González Pacheco became Conesa's lieutenant in the brigade. Antoni Batista and

6210-421: The brigade's activities. Anarchism in Spain Anarchism in Spain has historically gained some support and influence, especially before Francisco Franco 's victory in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, when it played an active political role and is considered the end of the golden age of classical anarchism . There were several variants of anarchism in Spain, namely expropriative anarchism in

6325-422: The brigade; after it was disbanded, many its members continued their careers with the Spanish police (including commissioner Roberto Conesa, head of the newly-created BCI). Brigade members known for their brutality, however, tended to be assigned to background positions or were encouraged to leave the force. According to some sources, the Ministry of the Interior archives contain about 100,000 political files from

6440-428: The city by 1956). A transitional planning intended to temporarily replace the shanty towns were the poblados de absorción , introduced since the mid-1950s in locations such as Canillas , San Fermín , Caño Roto, Villaverde , Pan Bendito  [ es ] , Zofío and Fuencarral , aiming to work as a sort of "high-end" shacks (with the destinataries participating in the construction of their own housing) but under

6555-440: The city in May 1931 worsened the political environment. However, the 1934 insurrection largely failed in the city. Madrid was one of the most heavily affected cities in the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). It was a stronghold of the Republican faction from July 1936 and became an international symbol of anti-fascist struggle during the conflict. The city suffered aerial bombing, and in November 1936, its western suburbs were

6670-469: The city proliferated. The following administrations, also conservative, led by Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón and Ana Botella launched three unsuccessful bids for the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics. By 2005, Madrid was the leading European destination for migrants from developing countries , as well as the largest employer of non-European workforce in Spain. Madrid was a centre of the anti-austerity protests that erupted in Spain in 2011. As consequence of

6785-441: The city's history as the capital of formerly imperial Spain. The intense demographic growth experienced by the city via mass immigration from the rural areas of the country led to the construction of abundant housing in the peripheral areas of the city to absorb the new population (reinforcing the processes of social polarization of the city), initially comprising substandard housing (with as many as 50,000 shacks scattered around

6900-430: The city. Precipitation is typically concentrated in the autumn, winter, and spring. It is particularly sparse during the summer, taking the form of about two showers and/or thunderstorms during the season. Madrid is the european capital with the least amount of annual precipitation. At the metropolitan scale, Madrid features both substantial daytime urban cool island and nighttime urban heat island effects during

7015-409: The clear dominance of anarchism within the Congress, there also existed three other main tendencies: the " associatarians " that were interested in the cultivation of cooperatives , the " politicians " that wanted to mobilize workers to participate in elections, and the "pure-and-simple" trade unionists that were focused on immediate workplace struggles. There was a particularly sharp conflict between

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7130-411: The command of Giuseppe Garibaldi and Giuseppe Mazzini . After the proclamation of the unified Kingdom of Italy in 1861, Fanelli was elected to the Italian Parliament as part of Mazzini's far-left coalition , before meeting Bakunin and becoming an anarchist. Following the Glorious Revolution and the beginning of the Sexenio Democrático in 1868, the new Provisional Government declared

7245-413: The country. The climate of Madrid features hot summers and cool winters. The primitive core of Madrid, a walled military outpost, dates back to the late 9th century, under the Emirate of Córdoba . Conquered by Christians in 1083 or 1085, it consolidated in the Late Middle Ages as a sizeable town of the Crown of Castile . The development of Madrid as administrative centre fostered after 1561, as it became

7360-400: The environmental value. During the reign of Ferdinand VII the regime of hunting prohibition for the Monte de El Pardo became one of full property and the expropriation of all possessions within its bounds was enforced, with dire consequences for the madrilenians at the time. It is designated as Special Protection Area for bird-life and it is also part of the Regional Park of the High Basin of

7475-432: The establishment of the Barcelona section of the IWA, which began to advocate for socialism within the structures that had already been set up by the 1868 Barcelona Workers' Congress . The IWA's influence was thereby extended to a number of workers' societies and the federal republican newspaper La Federación , quickly bringing thousands of workers under the anarchist banner. Farga i Pellicer even went on to participate in

7590-430: The frequent heat waves. Due to Madrid's altitude and dry climate, humidity is low and diurnal ranges are often significant, particularly on sunny winter days when the temperature rises in the afternoon before rapidly plummeting after nightfall. Madrid is among the sunniest capital cities in Europe. The highest recorded temperature was on 14 August 2021, with 40.7 °C (105.3 °F) and the lowest recorded temperature

7705-400: The hallways, and spilling out beyond the entrance". The agenda was closely guided by the anarchists around Rafael Farga i Pellicer, who opened the congress with a declaration against the state and proposed an distinctly anarchist program for the Spanish Regional Federation of the IWA ( Spanish : Federación Regional Española de la Asociación Internacional de Trabajadores , FRE-AIT). Despite

7820-453: The homes of the influx of workers, while Ensanche became a middle-class neighbourhood of Madrid. The Spanish Constitution of 1931 was the first to legislate the location of the country's capital, setting it explicitly in Madrid. During the 1930s, Madrid enjoyed "great vitality"; it was demographically young, becoming urbanized and the centre of new political movements. During this time, major construction projects were undertaken, including

7935-409: The lack of food and high prices. In June 1561 Phillip II set his court in Madrid, installing it in the old alcázar . Thanks to this, the city of Madrid became the political centre of the monarchy, being the capital of Spain except for a short period between 1601 and 1606, in which the Court was relocated to Valladolid (and the Madrid population temporarily plummeted accordingly). Being the capital

8050-442: The latter's confluence with the Fuente Castellana thalweg in the south of the city. The Monte de El Pardo (a protected forested area covering over a quarter of the municipality) reaches its top altitude (843 m (2,766 ft)) on its perimeter, in the slopes surrounding El Pardo reservoir  [ es ] located at the north-western end of the municipality, in the Fuencarral-El Pardo district. The oldest urban core

8165-412: The leading economic hub of the Iberian Peninsula and of Southern Europe . The metropolitan area hosts major Spanish companies such as Telefónica , Iberia , BBVA and FCC . It concentrates the bulk of banking operations in the country and it is the Spanish-speaking city generating the largest number of webpages. Madrid houses the headquarters of the UN 's World Tourism Organization (UNWTO),

8280-540: The mid-13th century and up to the late 14th century, the concejo of Madrid vied for the control of the Real de Manzanares territory against the concejo of Segovia , a powerful town north of the Sierra de Guadarrama mountain range, characterised by its repopulating prowess and its husbandry-based economy, contrasted with the agricultural and less repopulated town of Madrid. After the decline of Sepúlveda , another concejo north of

8395-528: The moderating effect of the sea. While mostly sunny, rain, sporadic snowfalls and frequent frosts can occur between December and February with cooler temperatures particularly during the night and mornings as cold winds blow into the city from surrounding mountains. Summers are hot and sunny, in the warmest month, July, average temperatures during the day range from 32 to 34 °C (90 to 93 °F) depending on location, with maxima commonly climbing over 35 °C (95 °F) and occasionally up to 40 °C during

8510-660: The mountain range, Segovia had become a major actor south of the Guadarrama mountains, expanding across the Lozoya and Manzanares rivers to the north of Madrid and along the Guadarrama river course to its west. In 1309, the Courts of Castile convened at Madrid for the first time under Ferdinand IV , and later in 1329, 1339, 1391, 1393, 1419 and twice in 1435. During the revolt of the Comuneros , led by Juan Lopez de Padilla , Madrid joined

8625-523: The movement gained speed with the rise of anarcho-syndicalism and the creation of the huge libertarian trade union , the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT). General strikes became common, and large portions of the Spanish working class adopted anarchist ideas. There also emerged a small individualist anarchist movement based on publications such as Iniciales and La Revista Blanca . The Federación Anarquista Ibérica (FAI)

8740-557: The municipality (including the Dehesa de la Villa, the Dehesa de Arganzuela or Viveros). El Retiro is the most visited location of the city. Having an area bigger than 1.4 km (0.5 sq mi) (350 acres), it is the largest park within the Almendra Central , the inner part of the city enclosed by the M-30. Created during the reign of Philip IV (17th century), it was handed over to

8855-681: The municipality in 1868, after the Glorious Revolution. It lies next to the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid . Located northwest of the city centre, the Parque del Oeste ("Park of the West") comprises part of the area of the former royal possession of the "Real Florida", and it features a slope as the height decreases down to the Manzanares. Its southern extension includes the Temple of Debod ,

8970-557: The municipality. A holm oak forest covering a surface over 16,000 hectares, it is considered the best preserved mediterranean forest in the Community of Madrid and one of the best preserved in Europe. Already mentioned in the Alfonso XI 's Libro de la montería  [ es ] from the mid-14th century, its condition as hunting location linked to the Spanish monarchy help to preserve

9085-464: The northern extension of the Paseo de la Castellana , one of Madrid's major thoroughfares. The tertiary sector, including banking, insurance and telephone services, grew greatly. Illiteracy rates were down to below 20%, and the city's cultural life grew notably during the so-called Silver Age of Spanish Culture; the sales of newspapers also increased. Conversely, the proclamation of the Republic created

9200-678: The only noticeable bourgeois elements in Madrid (that experienced a delay in its industrial development up to that point) were merchants. The University of Alcalá de Henares was relocated to Madrid in 1836, becoming the Central University . The economy of the city further modernized during the second half of the 19th century, consolidating its status as a service and financial centre. New industries were mostly focused in book publishing, construction and low-tech sectors. The introduction of railway transport greatly helped Madrid's economic prowess, and led to changes in consumption patterns (such as

9315-486: The period leading up to the conflict, the peasant anarchism in the countryside of Andalusia ; urban anarcho-syndicalism in Catalonia , particularly its capital Barcelona ; and what is sometimes called "pure" anarchism in other cities such as Zaragoza . However, these were complementary trajectories and had many ideological similarities. Early on, the success of the anarchist movement was sporadic. Anarchists would organize

9430-469: The permanent seat of the court of the Hispanic Monarchy . The Madrid urban agglomeration has the fourth-largest GDP in the European Union and its influence in politics , education , entertainment , environment , media , fashion , science , culture , and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities . Madrid is considered the major financial centre and

9545-424: The reports, the brigades presented their reports and petitions for a judge's signature with undue haste. The possibility that a judge would refuse was remote; although they could investigate complaints by detainees and victims of torture, the judges were also subject to the brigades. No judge would dare to excuse torture in a resolution, but some systematically close their eyes to all signs of torture and subscribe to

9660-488: The rest of the country, a heroin crisis took a toll in the poor neighborhoods of Madrid in the 1980s. Benefiting from increasing prosperity in the 1980s and 1990s, the capital city of Spain consolidated its position as an important economic, cultural, industrial, educational, and technological centre on the European continent. During the mandate as Mayor of José María Álvarez del Manzano construction of traffic tunnels below

9775-430: The resulting industrial output, Republican military commander Vicente Rojo Lluch said "Notwithstanding lavish expenditures of money on this need, our industrial organization was not able to finish a single kind of rifle or machine gun or cannon." When Francisco Franco took power in 1939, he had tens of thousands of political dissidents executed. The total number of politically motivated killings between 1939 and 1943

9890-486: The revolt against Charles, Holy Roman Emperor , but after defeat at the Battle of Villalar , Madrid was besieged and occupied by the imperial troops. The city was however granted the titles of Coronada (Crowned) and Imperial . The number of urban inhabitants grew from 4,060 in the year 1530 to 37,500 in the year 1594. The poor population of the court was composed of ex-soldiers, foreigners, rogues and Ruanes, dissatisfied with

10005-419: The right bank of the Manzanares. Madrid has the second highest number of aligned trees in the world, with 248,000 units, only exceeded by Tokyo. Madrid's citizens have access to a green area within a 15-minute walk. Since 1997, green areas have increased by 16%. At present, 8.2% of Madrid's grounds are green areas, meaning that there are 16 m (172 sq ft) of green area per inhabitant, far exceeding

10120-465: The right to freedom of association , allowing Spanish workers' societies to begin re-emerging from the secrecy that they had previously lived under. Bakunin took this as an opportunity to sponsor Fanelli on a journey to Spain in order to recruit members for the International Workingmen's Association (IWA), an international organization that aimed to unify groups working for the benefit of

10235-591: The scene of an all-out battle. The city fell to the Francoists in March 1939. A staple of post-war Madrid ( Madrid de la posguerra ) was the widespread use of ration coupons . Meat and fish consumption was scarce, resulting in high mortality due to malnutrition. Due to Madrid's history as a left-wing stronghold, the right-wing victors considered moving the capital elsewhere (most notably to Seville ), but such plans were never implemented. The Franco regime instead emphasized

10350-492: The spillover of the 2008 financial and mortgage crisis , Madrid has been affected by the increasing number of second-hand homes held by banks and house evictions . The mandate of left-wing Mayor Manuela Carmena (2015–2019) delivered the renaturalization of the course of the Manzanares across the city. Since the late 2010s, the challenges the city faces include the increasingly unaffordable rental prices (often in parallel with

10465-454: The state. All political cases fall within the Brigade, which acts by order of the Chief of Police. The interrogation of a prisoner may include the use of cruel methods, tending to force statements later called "confessions". As they receive an extra money, the poorly paid police officers tend to use increasingly violent methods and to prolong as much as possible the isolation of the prisoners to obtain

10580-423: The substitution of salted fish for fresh fish from the Spanish coasts) as well as further strengthening the city's role as a logistics node in the country's distribution network. Electric lighting in the streets was introduced in the 1890s. During the first third of the 20th century the population nearly doubled, reaching more than 850,000 inhabitants. New suburbs such as Las Ventas, Tetuán and El Carmen became

10695-558: The suburbs. Madrid, located near Alcalá (under Muslim control until 1118), remained a borderland for a while, suffering a number of razzias during the Almoravid period, and its walls were destroyed in 1110. The city was confirmed as villa de realengo  [ es ] (linked to the Crown) in 1123, during the reign of Alfonso VII . The 1123 Charter of Otorgamiento established the first explicit limits between Madrid and Segovia, namely

10810-556: The summer season in relation to its surroundings, which feature thinly vegetated dry land. In the 17th century, the viajes de agua (a kind of water channel or qanat ) were used to provide water to the city. Some of the most important ones were the Viaje de Amaniel  [ es ] (1610–1621, sponsored by the Crown), the Viaje de Fuente Castellana  [ es ] (1613–1620) and Abroñigal Alto  [ es ] / Abroñigal Bajo  [ es ] (1617–1630), sponsored by

10925-414: The supply, depurating waste water and the conservation of all the natural water resources of the Madrid region. The population of Madrid has overall increased since the city became the capital of Spain in the mid-sixteenth century, and has stabilised at approximately 3,000,000 since the 1970s. From 1970 until the mid-1990s, the population dropped. This phenomenon, which also affected other European cities,

11040-437: The victory of Franco, who had thousands of anarchists executed. Resistance to his rule never entirely died, with resilient militants participating in acts of sabotage and other direct action after the war, and making several attempts on the ruler's life. Their legacy remains important to this day, particularly to anarchists who look at their achievements as a historical precedent of anarchism's validity. The closest thing to

11155-429: The wider Tagus River catchment area. With an average altitude of 650 m (2,130 ft), Madrid is the second highest capital of Europe (after Andorra la Vella ). The difference in altitude within the city proper ranges from the 700 m (2,297 ft) around Plaza de Castilla in the north of city to the 570 m (1,870 ft) around La China wastewater treatment plant on the Manzanares' riverbanks, near

11270-543: The working class. Arriving in Barcelona on a shoestring budget, Fanelli met with and borrowed money from Élie Reclus , in order to finance his trip to Madrid , where he met with the owner of the federal republican newspaper La Igualdad and was put in touch with a group of radical workers. Fanelli spoke in French and Italian, so those present could only understand bits of what he was saying, except for one man, Tomás González Morago , who knew French. Nevertheless, Fanelli

11385-466: Was Ramón de la Sagra , who founded the world's first anarchist journal El Porvenir , which was published for a brief time in Galicia . Mutualism subsequently gained widespread popularity throughout Spain, becoming the dominant tendency within the Spanish federal republican movement by the 1860s. It was around this time that the revolutionary socialist ideas of Mikhail Bakunin , based in collectivism ,

11500-475: Was a temporary adjustment, and that once Franco was defeated, they would continue in their libertarian ways. There was also concern with the growing power of authoritarian communists within the government. Montseny later explained: "At that time we only saw the reality of the situation created for us: the communists in the government and ourselves outside, the manifold possibilities, and all our achievements endangered." The anarchist-held areas were run according to

11615-444: Was able to convey his libertarian and anti-capitalist ideas to the audience. Anselmo Lorenzo gave an account of his oratory: "His voice had a metallic tone and was susceptible to all the inflexions appropriate to what he was saying, passing rapidly from accents of anger and menace against tyrants and exploiters to take on those of suffering, regret and consolation...we could understand his expressive mimicry and follow his speech." As

11730-572: Was also allowed to suspend the Fuero for long periods of time in specific regions. Police housing records were a common (and feared) BPS practice. Many of the brigade's activities were examined by two courts created specifically for political repression : the Tribunal Especial para la Represión de la Masonería y el Comunismo and the Tribunal de Orden Público (TOP). Other courts and judges knew little about

11845-592: Was becoming more and more tense. On 2 May, a crowd began to gather near the Royal Palace protesting against the French attempt to evict the remaining members of the Bourbon royal family to Bayonne , prompting up an uprising against the French Imperial troops that lasted hours and spread throughout the city, including a famous last stand at the Monteleón barracks. Subsequent repression was brutal, with many insurgent Spaniards being summarily executed . The uprising led to

11960-536: Was created as a purely anarchist association, with the intention of keeping the CNT focused on the principles of anarchism. Anarchists played a central role in the fight against Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War. At the same time, a far-reaching social revolution spread throughout Spain, where land and factories were collectivized and controlled by the workers. All remaining social reforms ended in 1939 with

12075-433: Was decisive for the evolution of the city and influenced its fate and during the rest of the reign of Philip II, the population boomed, going up from about 18,000 in 1561 to 80,000 in 1598. During the early 17th century, although Madrid recovered from the loss of the capital status, with the return of diplomats, lords and affluent people, as well as an entourage of noted writers and artists together with them, extreme poverty

12190-581: Was directed at opposition to the Spanish state and based on the Law of Political Responsibilities and similar statutes. Their actions consisted of surveillance (including wiretapping), unregulated control of private and business correspondence, indefinite government detention, confiscation of property, and torture as an instrument of interrogation and punishment. The Fuero of the Spaniards  [ es ] (which theoretically guaranteed fundamental rights ) remained in effect without enforcement. The Spanish government

12305-509: Was however rampant. The century also was a time of heyday for theatre, represented in the so-called corrales de comedias . The city changed hands several times during the War of the Spanish Succession : from the Bourbon control it passed to the allied "Austracist" army with Portuguese and English presence that entered the city in late June 1706  [ es ] , only to be retaken by

12420-870: Was influenced by American individualist anarchism but it was mainly connected to the French currents . At the start of the 20th century people such as Dorado Montero, Ricardo Mella , Federico Urales , Mariano Gallardo and J. Elizalde translated French and American individualists. Important in this respect were also magazines such as La Idea Libre , La Revista Blanca , Etica , Iniciales , Al margen , Estudios , and Nosotros . The most influential thinkers there were Max Stirner , Émile Armand and Han Ryner . Just as in France, Esperanto , anationalism , anarcho-naturism and free love were present as philosophies and practices within Spanish individualist anarchist circles. Later Armand and Ryner started publishing in

12535-475: Was issued after the 1981 Spanish coup d'état attempt . Although the brigade was restructured and replaced by the Central Information Brigade (BCI) in 1978, but its dissolution was not completely formalized until Organic Law 2/1986, of March 13, of Security Forces and Corps was approved during the first government of Felipe González . The transition did not include debriefing former members of

12650-513: Was led by General José Ungría Jiménez . In 1940, during his visit to Spain, Nazi leader Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler ensured that Paul Winzer  [ de ] , an officer in the Schutzstaffel (SS) and the Gestapo who was stationed in Spain, would train the new Spanish secret police. Winzer instructed new agents of the Political-Social Brigade until 1944. It was created in 1941 with

12765-542: Was on 16 January 1945 with −10.1 °C (13.8 °F) in Madrid. While at the airport, in the eastern side of the city, the highest recorded temperature was on 24 July 1995, at 42.2 °C (108.0 °F), and the lowest recorded temperature was on 16 January 1945 at −15.3 °C (4.5 °F). From 7 to 9 January 2021 , Madrid received the most snow in its recorded history since 1904; Spain's meteorological agency AEMET reported between 50 and 60 cm (20 and 24 in) of accumulated snow in its weather stations within

12880-447: Was propagated by many periodicals like El Socialismo started by Fermín Salvochea . Salvochea is considered one of the earliest pioneers in the propagation and organization along anarchist lines. The anarchist movement lacked a stable national organization in its early years. Anarchist Juan Gómez Casas discusses the evolution of anarchist organization before the creation of the CNT: "After

12995-513: Was shot by a fascist sniper. Given the widespread repression against Anarchists by the Soviets, which included torture and summary executions , it is also possible that it was a USSR plot. During the Spanish Civil War, many anarchists outside of Spain criticized the CNT leadership for entering into government and compromising with communist elements on the Republican side. Those in Spain felt that this

13110-491: Was the main popularizer in Spain through his writings. The most effective anarchist unit in the Civil War was the Durruti Column , led by militant Buenaventura Durruti. It was the only anarchist unit which managed to gain respect from otherwise fiercely hostile political opponents. In a section of her memoirs which otherwise lambastes the anarchists, Dolores Ibárruri states: "The war developed with minimal participation from

13225-430: Was the scene of some of the most important events of the time, such as the mass demonstrations of support for democracy after the failed coup, 23-F , on 23 February 1981. The first democratic mayors belonged to the centre-left PSOE ( Enrique Tierno Galván , Juan Barranco Gallardo ). Since the late 1970s and through the 1980s Madrid became the center of the cultural movement known as la Movida . Conversely, just like in

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