Collado Villalba

Collado Villalba municipality
Church in Collado Villalba
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Madrid
Coordinates	40 ° 38 ′  N , 4 ° 0 ′  W Coordinates: 40 ° 38 ′  N , 4 ° 0 ′  W
Height :	900  msnm
Area :	26.52 km²
Residents :	63,679 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	2,401.17 inh / km²
Postal code :	E-28400
Municipality number  ( INE ):	28047
administration
Website :	Collado Villalba

View of Villalba (painting 1875)

Collado Villalba is a town and a municipality (municipio) with a total of 63,679 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the northwest of the autonomous region of Madrid ( Spain ).

Location and climate

The city extends on both banks of the Río Guadarrama in the southern foothills of the Sierra de Guadarrama about 40 km (driving distance) northwest of Madrid at an altitude of about 870 to 920  m . The climate in winter is cool, whereas in summer it is temperate to warm; Precipitation - sometimes in the form of snow - (approx. 450 mm / year) mainly falls in the winter half-year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2018
Residents	527	1,326	3,355	42,238	63,074

The enormous increase in population that has been recorded since the middle of the 20th century is mainly due to the favorable location (proximity to the greater Madrid area, railway and motorway access, etc.) and the increasing tourism within Spain .

economy

Originally, the economic activities were typical of mountain regions: cattle and sheep breeding, beekeeping and granite quarries . In 1950, however, only 20% of the population was employed in agriculture . In the second half of the 20th century, many second homes were built and the community turned into a resort for the summer and weekends; thereby the service sector grew. Today the place is a dormitory city in the greater Madrid area as well as a center of leisure activities in the area of ​​the Sierra de Guadarrama; It is not for nothing that Collado Villalba is called the “capital of the Sierra”. Nevertheless, the atmosphere of a mountain village can still be felt in parts; many gardens on both sides of the Río Guadarrama and quiet shopping streets testify to the still rural character. A little more than 20 minutes' walk from the city center, you are in flat land surrounded by the mountains of the Sierra de Guadarrama.

history

Located in the municipality the remains of a megalithic passage tomb (dolmen Entretérminos) . Celtic , Roman , Visigoth and even Moorish traces are only available in extremely sparse numbers. The area was in the 11./12. Recovered by Christians in the 19th century ( reconquista ) ; then it was repopulated by new settlers ( repoblación ) . In 1455, John II founded the royal county of Manzanares (Condado de Real de Manzanares) here and passed it into the hands of Iñigo López de Mendoza .

Attractions

Iglesia de la Virgen del Camino

• The ruined Dolmen de Entretérminos is located about 2 km northwest of the city center ( 44 ° 38 ′ 39 ″  N , 4 ° 1 ′ 10 ″  W ).
• The Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Enebral is a building from the 16th / 17th centuries. Century with a south porch supported by monolithic columns ( portico ) .
• The Ermita de Santiago Apóstol , built at the beginning of the 20th century, stands in the middle of the old town.
• The Trinity Church (Iglesia de la Santísima Trinidad) is a new building from the 1980s and is located near the train station.
• The old town hall (ayuntamiento) now houses the city library. Immediately next to it is the modern glass building of the new town hall.

East bank of the Guadarrama River

• The new church of the Iglesia de la Virgen del Camino consists of a round hall and a free-standing tower.
• New architecture shapes the image of the Universidad a Distancia de Madrid (UDIMA).

Web links

Commons : Collado Villalba  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Collado Villalba, tourism site - photo + information

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cifras oficiales de población resultantes de la revisión del Padrón municipal a 1 de enero . Population statistics from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (population update).
2. ↑ Collado Villalba - climate tables
3. ↑ Collado Villalba - population development
4. ↑ Collado Villalba - Church of Nuestra Señora del Enebral