Madrid

Capital of the country and region, Madrid has been the capital of the kingdom since 1561 (when it had about 20,000 inhabitants) it moved to the Court Philip II, to the detriment of Toledo and Valladolid, while between 1601 and 1606 the capital returned temporarily to the latter.

Madrid's population has experienced a significant increase since the end of the twentieth century, this is largely due to immigration, both internal and external. This population increase has led Madrid to a housing shortage and this in turn, to a rise in land prices - in late 2003 the price was around 2340 euros per square meter (data from the Ministry of Development) and  the most expensive in Spain.

The city of Madrid experienced a great deal of development in the wake of Philip II who made it the capital of the Kingdom.

In the administrative role he played since then, accentuated by the centrality of the system of government established by the Bourbons, was accompanied by a strong industrial growth since the mid twentieth century, focusing on dynamic sectors such as chemicals, metallurgy and other specialties related to urban consumption of advanced technology: precision mechanics, electronics, pharmaceuticals, etc. Despite the current trend to move production facilities to the metropolitan periphery, Madrid, manufacturing is the second focus of the country, exceeded only by Barcelona. In recent years, the Madrid urban complexity has led to a significant development of its tertiary activities. Thus, the traditional administrative and financial functions, have joined others such as tourism, leisure and cultural. Madrid's nomination as European capital of culture in 1992 is the culmination of this process, driven by both the public and private initiative. Madrid stands out for the existence of major state universities: the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (the largest in the State ), the Autonomous University of Madrid (in Canto Blanco), the Polytechnic University of Madrid. Madrid stands also as a center of research: the CSIC (Higher Council for Scientific Research), the various National Academies, the National Library of Spain, etc.. It is also notable for being the first center of the country museum: Museo del Prado, Reina Sofia National Museum, etc..