Móstoles

Móstoles municipality
	Móstoles - building in Plaza del Sol
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Madrid
Comarca :	Area metropolitana de Madrid
Coordinates	40 ° 19 ′ N , 3 ° 52 ′ W Coordinates: 40 ° 19 ′ N , 3 ° 52 ′ W
Height :	665 msnm
Area :	45.36 km²
Residents :	209.184 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density :	4,611.64 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	28930 to 28939
Municipality number ( INE ):	28092
administration
Website :	Móstoles

Móstoles is the largest suburb of Madrid and a municipality ( municipio ) with 209,184 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the autonomous community of Madrid .

Location and climate

The approximately 665 m high city of Móstoles is located in the southern part of the Iberian Highlands ( meseta ) southwest of the Castilian Scheidegebirge . The Spanish capital Madrid is located just under 23 km (driving distance) northeast; the old capital Toledo is just under 74 km to the south. The climate in winter is temperate, while in summer it is warm to hot; the rather low amounts of precipitation (approx. 435 mm / year) fall - with the exception of the almost rainless summer months - distributed over the whole year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2019
Residents	1,321	1,344	2,082	196.289	209.184

Due to its location in the greater Madrid area, the population of the municipality has grown enormously since the 1980s.

economy

Móstoles was dominated by agriculture for centuries; the people lived largely as a self-sufficient source of income from the surrounding fields and house gardens. Preserved surpluses (cheese, sausages, ham) could be exchanged or sold with traveling traders, who then sold them to small traders in Madrid.

Today the city is shaped by industry. The economic basis is formed by the metalworking industry , the construction industry , services , agriculture and livestock . The main campus of the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos is also located in the city .

The world's first reactor that uses solar energy to produce kerosene from water and carbon dioxide is located in Móstoles .

history

A Roman tombstone and the foundation walls of two country estates ( villae rusticae ) were discovered in the municipality ; ceramic shards were also found. Remains of a church, which were uncovered during excavations, could come from the Visigothic period . In the 8th century the Islamic - Moorish armies conquered the area, but in the end almost no evidence has survived from the post-Roman era. Probably during the reconquest ( reconquista ) of Toledo (1085) and the area around Madrid fell into the hands of the Christians who followed a policy of repopulation ( repoblación ) with Christians from all over the Iberian Peninsula operated. The first written mention of the old place name Monsteles comes from the year 1144. In 1565 the rural community broke away from its dependence on Toledo. Móstoles gained notoriety when, on May 2, 1808, Andrés Torrejón , one of the two mayors, declared war on France and thus triggered an uprising against the Napoleonic troops . A statue in Pradillo Square commemorates this event.

Attractions

Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción

Interior of the church

The city's oldest and most important attraction is the Mudejar-style Church of the Assumption , built in the 15th or 16th century, partially destroyed during the civil war (1936–39), but restored in the 1940s and 1970s and supplemented with modern additions (Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción) . Only the apse and the minaret-like bell tower (campanario) remain from the original building.

Also in the old town is the Ermita de Nuestra Señora de los Santos , a single-nave Mudejar building from the early 17th century, which was changed in the late Renaissance style in the 1680s . It has a transept and an unexposed crossing dome ; the altarpiece (retablo) with its twisted columns in the style of churrigueresque dates from the late 18th century.
The city museum (Museo de la Ciudad) is now housed in the former post office building.