El Espinar

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El Espinar municipality
coat of arms Map of Spain
El Espinar coat of arms
El Espinar (Spain)
Finland road sign 311 (1994-2020) .svg
Basic data
Autonomous Community : Castile LeonCastile and León Castile and León
Province : Segovia
Coordinates 40 ° 43 ′  N , 4 ° 15 ′  W Coordinates: 40 ° 43 ′  N , 4 ° 15 ′  W
Height : 1200  msnm
Area : 205.10 km²
Residents : 8,986 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density : 43.81 inhabitants / km²
Postal code : 40400
Municipality number  ( INE ): 40076
administration
Website : www.elespinar.es
Location of the municipality
Segovia - El Espinar.svg

El Espinar is a municipality in the province of Segovia . It is located in the south of the Autonomous Region of Castile and León , on the northwestern slope of the Sierra de Guadarrama . It has 8986 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019).

geography

El Espinar is also known as the gateway to Castile-Leon, as it is the first place in Castile-Leon to be beyond the Guadarrama Mountains when viewed from Madrid . The place has been accessible from Madrid via a 3.2 kilometer long tunnel of the Autopista AP-6 since 1963 , previously only via the 1511 meter high Lion Pass (Alto de los Leones).

The municipality consists of the main town El Espinar, the districts

  • San Rafael
  • La Estación de El Espinar
  • Gudillos
  • Prados

and the Urbanización (satellite settlement) Los Ángeles de San Rafael , parts of which also belong to the municipalities of Otero de Herreros and Vegas de Matute .

The districts of La Estación, San Rafael and Los Ángeles de San Rafael are on the Madrid-Atocha - Segovia railway line. Since this line is hardly used on the last section due to the new high-speed line, an application has now been made to extend the Madrid S-Bahn line to Los Ángeles de San Rafael.

The highest point on the municipal area of the municipality is the Montón de Trigo 2,155 meters.

climate

El Espinar lies within the zone of the continental Mediterranean climate. But its elevated position (between 1,050 and 2,155 meters above sea level) means that the winters are relatively cold (there is frost on an average of 53 days a year) and some summers are very mild. That is why many Madrid residents have a second home here, especially in the districts of San Rafael and Los Ángeles de San Rafael, which they mainly visit in the hot summer months. El Espinar is also very popular with storks: up to 800 storks are counted there. They also spend the winter there.

economy

Due to its location at the foot of the Sierra de Guadarrama, El Espinar has traditionally been a center of the livestock industry, wood processing and timber trade. In addition, tourism plays an important role, not least because of the numerous second homes of Madrid's residents. Many residents commute to work in Madrid every day.

Attractions

  • The parish church of San Eutropio. Its oldest parts date from the 13th century. In 1572 it was rebuilt by a student of Juan de Herreras using elements of style from El Escorial . At the main portal there is a statue of Saint Eutropius, which French immigrants from Saintes are said to have brought with them when they were repopulated after the Reconquista .
  • Bunker from the Spanish Civil War near the Alto de los Leones mountain pass.

Web links

Commons : El Espinar  - collection of images, videos and audio files

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).