History History

Mohamed I, Emir of Cordoba, founded the fortress of Magrit (a primitive name that refers to the richness of the underground rivers). In the 9th century he erected a citadel overlooking the Manzanares River (where the royal palace is now) to protect the territory of Toledo from Castilian invasions. The city consisted of the Alcázar or Almudaina (fortress) and the Medina (the city), with its typically Arab narrow streets.

After the conquest of Toledo by Alfonso VI, Madrid found itself definitively in the zone of Christian influence.

Abandoned by the Arabs and under Christian rule, Madrid gradually lost its military function during the 12th century and became a large agricultural village. Isidro, who was later sanctified and became the patron saint of the city, represents the archetype of this image of the good and honest farmer.

The king and his Corte (court) resided in Valladolid, Burgos or Toledo, but Madrid, located in the middle of the sierra, in the heart of a hunting area, attracted them. The Corte frequently travelled there for entertainment and hunting.

The first Cortes are held in Madrid. King Charles I (also Charles V, Emperor of the Holy German Empire), who was an avid hunter, resided in Madrid sporadically.

It was Philip II, Catholic and austere, who radically changed the destiny of the city. During the winter, he established Madrid as the capital of the State and Empire.

Philip IV accedes to the throne. This monarch, passionate about letters and the arts, protected painters like Velázquez and Murillo and writers like Lope de Vega, Calderón de la Barca, Quevedo y Villegas and Tirso de Molina. He had the last wall built, which protected the city until 1868, with five gates: Alcalá, Atocha, Toledo, Segovia and Bilbao.

Charles II acceded to the throne at the age of 4, under the guardianship of his mother Marianne of Austria. King under the influence (of his mother, his wife, his ministers) throughout his reign, in a pitiful physical state, he was nicknamed Hechizado (the Bewitched). Sterile, his inability to have an heir would cause many conflicts of succession and precipitate the fall of the House of Habsburg.

War of Succession between the Bourbons and the Habsburgs. The Peace of Utrecht of 1713 finally recognized Philip V, a Bourbon, as King of Spain.

The construction of the Royal Palace begins in the place of the old Alcázar, destroyed by fire four years earlier.

The capital is changing dramatically. Sewers, street lighting, street paving, construction of cemeteries, Madrid is becoming a modern city. Prestigious buildings also multiply. The Retiro Park opened to the public in 1761, the construction of the Royal Palace was completed in 1764, and the Casa de Correos was built in 1768. We can also mention the works of the future Paseo del Prado and the reconstruction of the General Hospital (the future Reina Sofia Museum) in 1776, the Benavente Palace in 1777, the creation of the Botanical Garden in 1781... For posterity, Charles III will leave the memory of a philanthropic king.

Napoleon used the pretext of wanting to send through Spain the troops that had to fight Portugal, an ally of the English. In fact, he occupies Spain and forces Charles IV to abdicate.

The people of Madrid rise up against Napoleon's army.

After the rout of his armies, Napoleon returned the throne of Spain to Ferdinand VII. But the latter will disappoint his people, his reign being marked by absolutism and repression.

Ferdinand VII dies and it is the time of the reign of Isabella II.

Her reign did not really begin until 1843 after 10 years of regency of her mother and General Espartero. She introduced the ley de desamortización(law of confiscation), which consisted of expropriating church property to build public buildings. She also had the Isabel II Canal built, providing water to all the people of Madrid. But her reign was rather turbulent, marked by numerous uprisings. Very unpopular, she was considered weak and incapable of understanding the country's progressive aspirations. In 1868, a new revolution forced her into exile in France. After officially abdicating two years later, she will end her days in Paris.

After a few unstable years, when the struggles between the republican and royalist movements became increasingly harsh, the monarchical regime was restored with the enthronement of Alfonso XII, after an attempt at a First Republic and a military regime.

At the same time, industrial activity developed. With the rise of the working class, new political parties emerged: the Spanish Communist Party (PCE) and the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE).

Theartistic sensibility is characterized by an eclectic architecture that recovers and integrates Gothic, Classical and Baroque elements: the Linares Palace, the Almudena Cathedral, theBank of Spain and the current Ministry of Agriculture. The government proceeded to a first ensanche (enlargement) of Madrid from the casco historico (old town). Around this central nucleus new residential areas were built for the upper class: Argüelles-Moncloa, Chamberí, Salamanca, Recoletos or Embajadores.

In Madrid, the beginning of the 20th century was also called the Silver Century in reference to the Spanish Golden Century. Two major literary movements are worth mentioning: the generation of 1898 with, among others, Miguel de Unamuno, Ramon del Valle-Inclán, Pío Baroja, Azorín and Antonio Machado (1875-1939); and the generation of 1927 with Juan Ramón Jiménez, Joan Miró, Fedérico García Lorca and Ramon Gómez de la Serna. The Café Gijón, known for hosting tertulias (debates, literary discussions) by great names in Spanish literature, was opened at this time.

Alfonso XIII inaugurated the metro in 1919. At that time, the Casa de Campo, a park that belonged to the royal family, became public, just as the Retiro had become public during the First Republic.

The Gran Vía was completed to unblock the historic centre of a capital city that was then plagued by anarchist attacks, strikes and social tensions.

Following the municipal elections of 1931, the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. At that time, Madrid's growth extended northwards with the Paseo de la Castellana, the first section of which was inaugurated in 1933.

It was the beginning of the civil war, which pitted the camp of left-wing and extreme left-wing republicans against nationalists and putschist rebels, oriented to the right and the extreme right and led by General Franco. When the Civil War broke out, Madrid was largely republican and was an anti-Franco stronghold until the end of the war.

The Francoists reached a city that had suffered a lot; there was much destruction and many Madrilenians fled for fear of reprisals. Franco settled in Madrid, more precisely in the palace of a small village in the surroundings: El Pardo. It was the beginning of the dictatorship.

With the Franco regime a new way of conceiving Madrid emerged. Jose Maria Vidagor, an architect and former anarchist converted to Franco's national trade unionism, wanted to stop the expansion of Madrid to make it a capital destined for the elite. However, from 1950, industry created many jobs and Madrid became an important centre of attraction for the whole of Spain. The rural exodus had only just begun. The district of Madrid annexed the surrounding villages which, at the same time, lost their town halls: Vallecas, El Pozo, Hortaleza, Fuencarral? The municipality of Madrid goes from 60 km² to 600 km².

The decade of the 1960s marked the beginning of a movement to open up the country to the rest of the world. The first tourists enter Spain. In Madrid, the price per square metre skyrocketed.

Franco dies and the dictatorial system collapses. In accordance with a decision taken as early as 1969, power is entrusted to Prince Juan Carlos de Bourbon, grandson of Alfonso XIII, who takes the title of king and almost immediately sets Spain on the path of democratisation.

Adoption by referendum of a new Constitution.

Early parliamentary elections, won by the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) and its leader, Adolfo Suárez.

The Madrid of the 1980s is marked by the mayor Enrique Tierno Galván (1918-1986) who was affectionately called the Old Professor by the Spaniards. Socialist mayor of Madrid from 1979 to 1986, this former university professor rehabilitated the old neighborhoods. Above all, it was he who encouraged the development of the Movida in Madrid, the counter-culture movement that developed after the fall of the dictatorship. Galván unreservedly favored new artistic trends and, under his presidency, the city council financed many projects, including free concerts.

The advent of the system of autonomous communities transformed the territorial and political configuration of Spain. Madrid is not integrated into either of the two regions destined to host it: Castilla y León or Castilla-La Mancha, and in 1982-1983, the autonomous community of Madrid was born, bringing together the city and its close surroundings.

The death of Enrique Tierno Galvan, while he was still in office, was a shock to all the people of Madrid. José Alvaro del Manzano, a member of Allianza Popular (later to become the Popular Party, PP), was elected. Unlike Galván, he considerably reduced the culture budget and focused his policy on the construction of economic infrastructures (new roads, ministries...).

But the new generation is reappropriating the city and from the mid-1990s, an alternative movement is emerging. Chueca, Malasaña and Lavapiés, still in full swing, were then the leading districts of these transformations.

On the morning of Thursday 11 March, Madrid was hit by the deadliest wave of attacks in its history. Ten bombs exploded in four suburban trains at the height of the rush, killing 191 people and injuring 1,482 others. With only three days to go before the parliamentary elections, José María Aznar's government points the finger at the Basque terrorist organisation ETA. However, on Friday, the separatist organisation denies any responsibility for the attacks. On election day, the terrorist group al-Qa'ida claims responsibility for the attacks. Spain's involvement in the conflict against Iraq is said to have motivated these barbaric acts.

Movements of the Indignados or the 15M in Madrid and the main Spanish cities. Dozens of demonstrations are organized for the reform of the Spanish governmental system and against the domination of the banks.

On the 2nd, King Juan Carlos I announces that he abdicates in favour of his son Felipe. On the 18th, the law to allow the transmission of the crown is signed. Felipe then becomes king on June 19th at midnight and takes the oath. He then becomes King Felipe VI.

Changes of heads in Madrid. In June, the left-wing mayor Manuela Carmena, elected in 2015 with the support of the left-wing party Podemos, was replaced by the right-wing Popular Party (PP) candidate José Luis Martínez-Almeida. Although he came second in the election behind the outgoing mayor, he made a deal with the Ciudadanos and Vox parties to take over the responsibilities. In August, Isabel Díaz Ayuso was elected to head the Community of Madrid, again thanks to a PP-Ciudadanos alliance.

After having broken up her minority coalition and provoked new elections (for fear of a vote of no confidence), the president of the community of Madrid Isabel Díaz Ayuso (PP) was re-elected by a large margin (44.76% of the votes) and just missed out on an absolute majority.

Former lawyer and Popular Party (PP) member José Luis Martínez-Almeida is elected mayor of Madrid, this time finishing first in the poll with 44.5% of the vote.

alberto Núñez Feijóo's Popular Party wins the parliamentary elections by a narrow margin over the Socialist incumbent Pedro Sánchez. However, without an absolute majority, it was not enough to form a government. The country found itself in an unprecedented deadlock, until Sánchez succeeded in forming a majority with his allies in the far-left Sumar coalition on November 16. Between July 2023 and January 2024, Spain holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union.