Torrejón

Torrejón de Ardoz

Torrejón de Ardoz

Municipality in Community of Madrid, Spain

"Torrejón" redirects here. For other uses, see Torrejón (disambiguation).

Torrejón de Ardoz (Spanish pronunciation: [toreˈxon de aɾˈðoθ]) is a municipality of Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid.

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The European Union Satellite Centre (SatCen), an agency of the European Union, is located in Torrejón de Ardoz. It is also the location of the headquarters of the Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA), the Spanish space agency.

The Torrejón Air Base/Madrid–Torrejón Airport also lies on the municipality.

Etymology

Torrejón comes from torre ("tower"); the suffix -jón is a diminutive that ultimately makes reference to the small or unimportant nature of the noun.[2] The Ardoz add-on comes from the namesake creek.[2]

History

While there is no certainty of the origin of Torrejón de Ardoz, it probably dates from the 12th century, associated to fortifications built to protect Alcalá de Henares.[3] It was part of the Land of Alcalá for all purposes until 1554, when it was granted the status of town.[2]

In 1843 it was the place of a short battle between general Ramón Narvaez and senator Antonio Seoane, as part of the rebellion against Espartero.[4]

The United States Air Force jointly occupied the Torrejón Air Base, installed in 1955,[5] under agreements made with Francisco Franco. The base was subject of criticism since its beginnings and a meeting place of pacifist demonstrations attended by progressives and ecologists.[5]

One of the election platforms of Felipe González's Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) was to close the base to the American fighter wing. Once González became prime minister, the lease of the then 401st Tactical Fighter Wing (now the 401st Air Expeditionary Group) was not renewed and the F-16 fighter wing left the base in the early 1990s.

Geography

Location

Torrejón de Ardoz as seen by the European Space Agency's Sentinel-2.

It is located to the east of the city of Madrid, near the A-2, the highway connecting Madrid and Barcelona. With the city located at the right-bank (north) of the Henares the relief of the municipality gently decreases in elevation from north to south.[2]

Three small creeks pass through the municipality emptying into the Henares.[6] From West to East: Arroyo del Valle, Arroyo Pelayo, and Arroyo Ardoz.[6]

The highest point lies in the North of the municipality, standing at 623 m above sea level.[7]

The municipality has a total area of 32.49 km2.[8]

Climate

More information Climate data for Torrejón de Ardoz 607m (1981-2010), Month ...

Famous people from Torrejón de Ardoz

Artists
Military personnel
Politicians
Sportpeople
Crime
  • Patrick Nogueira, murderer. Lived with his uncle, aunt and cousins before his family moved to Pioz.

References

Citations
  1. [1]
    Municipal Register of Spain 2018. National Statistics Institute.
  2. [2]
    Cruz Plaza, García Lledó & Martín-Serrano García 1991, p. 754.
  3. [3]
    Torrejón Townhall website (in Spanish)
  4. [4]
    Torrejón Townhall website (in Spanish)
  5. [5]
    Alpuente 1997.
  6. [6]
    Merino Arribas et al. 2004, p. 1.
  7. [7]
    Merino Arribas et al. 2004, p. 3.
  8. [8]
    Merino Arribas et al. 2004, p. 4.
  9. [9]
    "Valores climatológicos normales. Torrejón de Ardoz".
Bibliography

See also
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