Colmenarejo

Colmenarejo municipality
Colmenarejo - Town Hall and Church
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Help on coat of arms
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Madrid
Province :	Madrid
Comarca :	Cuenca del Guadarrama
Coordinates	40 ° 34 ′  N , 4 ° 1 ′  W Coordinates: 40 ° 34 ′  N , 4 ° 1 ′  W
Height :	870  msnm
Area :	31.7 km²
Residents :	9,130 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	288.01 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	28270
Municipality number  ( INE ):	28044
administration
Website :	Colmenarejo

Colmenarejo is a small town in central Spain and a mountain community ( municipio ) with 9,130 ​​inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the northwest of the autonomous community of Madrid .

Location and climate

The mountain village of Colmenarejo is located on the southern edge of the Sierra de Guadarrama a good 40 km northwest of the city of Madrid at an altitude of approx. 870  m ; the monastery palace of the Escorial is only about 12 km to the west. The climate in winter is cool, whereas in summer it is temperate to warm; Precipitation - sometimes in the form of snow - (approx. 445 mm / year) mainly falls in the winter half-year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2018
Residents	326	400	544	4,395	9.124

The population increase that has been recorded since the middle of the 20th century is mainly due to the relative proximity to the greater Madrid area and the increasing tourism within Spain.

economy

Ore mines (mainly copper ) have been in operation in the area since ancient times . In earlier times, the residents of the place and the entire mountain region lived almost without exception as self-sufficient on the yields of their fields and gardens; cattle breeding was also practiced. With the improvement of the traffic conditions (railway connection, buses) since the 1850s, the place has become more and more popular as a climatic health resort and summer resort .

history

Celts , Romans , Visigoths and Moors - with the exception of the ore mines - left no traces; the area around Colmenarejo served the herds from the valleys as summer pastures . The place was probably founded in the Middle Ages; in 1445 he was incorporated into the newly founded royal county of Manzanares (Condado del Real de Manzanares) , whose first incumbent was Iñigo López de Mendoza .

Attractions

Colmenarejo - old reservoir (Aulencia Reservoir)

• The Iglesia de Santiago Apóstol dates from the 16th century; while the apse has a late Gothic rib vault , the nave (nave) is spanned by an open wooden roof truss .
• The town has several wells (fuentes) , also known as cattle troughs (abrevaderos) were used.

Surroundings

• The old Aulencia reservoir and part of the new Almenarejo reservoir are located in the municipal area.

Web links

Commons : Colmenarejo  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Colmenarejo, sights - photo + information (Spanish)

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. ↑ Colmenarejo - Climate tables
3. ↑ Colmenarejo - population development
4. ↑ Colmenarejo - Church