MADRID - Geography and history
The autonomous community of Madrid is composed of a single province of 7995 square kilometres and is the capital of the country. It may be divided into four areas: the (highly urbanized) metropolitan area; the Sierra in the north; the heavily industrialized Corredor del Henares in the east; and the basically agricultural area in the south. 84% of the land lies at an altitude of over 600 metres, and heights of more than 2 000 metres are reached, giving rise to a dry, continental climate with major variations in seasonal temperatures.
Its central location places Madrid in a privileged position in terms of accessibility from anywhere in Spain and also makes it an important centre for international air traffic, Barajas Airport being an important gateway to Europe for Latin America. The Madrid region thus lies between the most developed regions on the Ebro and Mediterranean axes, forming a small island of economic power at the heart of inland Spain.
Madrid: nerve centre of the Iberian Peninsula
Its central position and the role of the city of Madrid as the political and administrative capital, enables the region to act as a linchpin between the underdeveloped regions and the more developed areas of the country. This pivotal role also holds true in relations with abroad, acting as it does as a centre for the reception and retransmission of innovative ideas from the rest of Europe. Madrid is a part of the global system of cities which, thanks to air travel and information technology, is increasingly less concerned by physical distances. Moreover, the Madrid region is not only strong in advanced services, but is also the second most important industrial area in Spain (or the first in the case of high technology), the result of which is a combination allowing a sounder development than that based on services alone.
These positive aspects are counterbalanced by:
- inadequate infrastructure for transport to and within the metropolitan area;
- the industry of the south/south-east, which was severely hit by the recession and requires adequate land and communications if it is to be restructured and revived;
- the deterioration of the natural environment due to pollution and the production of enormous quantities of industrial and urban waste;
- the existence of marginalized groups resulting from the high unemployment rate in some areas.
Strong concentration of economic activity and population
93% of the region's population is concentrated on only 24% of its surface area. This fact, which is common to all the capital regions in Europe, is particularly striking in Madrid, where the fall-off in population density is very pronounced (15 000 inhabitants per km2 in the centre of the city, whilst 20 km away there are some communities with less than 10 inhabitants per km2). The imbalances affect the sitting of businesses in relation to residential areas, which leads to a great deal of commuting.
The specialization in the services sector of the so-called 'central core' has led to 45% of all jobs being concentrated in this area, the figure rising to 75% for financial services and 60% for public administration.
On the other hand, the recession caused job losses in the industrial areas of the south and east of the metropolitan area, with its large young population, and a deterioration in the socio-economic climate.
This situation has been aggravated by the lack of social facilities in vast areas of the industrial belt, a feature which is shared by some parts of the Sierra Norte area. In contrast, the 'central core' of the city has recorded a sharp growth in advanced services, resulting in sizeable increases in income and employment.
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