Rascafría

Rascafría municipality
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Madrid
Comarca :	Sierra Norte
Coordinates	40 ° 54 ′  N , 3 ° 53 ′  W Coordinates: 40 ° 54 ′  N , 3 ° 53 ′  W
Height :	1200  msnm
Area :	150.27 km²
Residents :	1,664 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	11.07 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	E-28740
Municipality number  ( INE ):	28120
administration
Mayor :	Yolanda Aguirre Gómez ( PP )
Website :	www.rascafria.org
Location of the municipality

Rascafría is a municipality in the comarca of Sierra Norte in the Community of Madrid . Rascafría has around 2000 inhabitants, has an area of ​​150 km² and is at an altitude of 1200  msnm .

geography

Geographical location

Rascafría is located on the southern slope of the Lozoya Valley in the middle of the Sierra de Guadarrama . The highest mountain in the Sierra, the Peñalara, is located in the municipality . The Lozoya River flows through the valley . The Artiñuello stream flows through the village . A little to the south, the El Paular stream flows into the river that gave the Carthusian monastery of Santa María del Paular its name.

The Lozoya Valley with Rascafría in the left half and the dammed Lozoya River in the background. On the left the border with Segovia, on the right via Miraflores the greater Madrid area.

Neighboring communities

• Northeast: Alameda del Valle
• East: Canencia
• Southeast: Miraflores de la Sierra
• South: Soto del Real and Manzanares el Real
• West and North: Province of Segovia in the Autonomous Community of Castile and Leon

City structure

The place is divided into the following districts, starting in the northeast (towards the exit of the valley) to the southwest (pass): Oteruele del Valle, Los Grifos, Rascafría (main town), Santa María del Paular with the Carthusian monastery and Puerto de Cotos (Cotos pass) with the Cotos train station.

climate

In the high elevations of the Sierra, a mountain climate dominates with lots of snow in winter.

See also: Climate Spain

population

development

From 2005 to 2006 the proportion of Spanish citizens decreased from 89.21% to 76.27%.

languages

Of the almost 24% foreign resident population, almost 10% come from South and Central America and a good 10% from non-EU countries in Europe.

politics

Municipal council

Municipal elections	1987	1991	1995	1999	2001	2007
Izquierda Unida	0	0	0	0	0	0
Partido Popular	0	0	1	2	3	4th
PSOE	5	4th	3	4th	3	3
other	4th	5	5	3	3	2
total	9	9	9	9	9	9

Culture and sights

Buildings

• 

  Puente del Perdón (Bridge of Forgiveness)

• 

  Cross in the monastery of Santa María de El Paular

• 

  Charterhouse of Santa María de El Paular

• 

  Arboretum

Parks

The Peñalara Natural Park is in the municipal area.

Panoramic view from the top of Mount Peñalara ( 2430  m ). From left to right the Lozoya Valley, the Cabezas de Hierro ( 2383  m ), the Maliciosa ( 2227  m ), the Bola del Mundo ( 2265  m ), the Navacerrada Pass ( 1870  m ), Abantos ( 1753  m ), the Siete Picos ( 2138  m ) and the Montón of Trigo ( 2161  m )

Sports

In Rascafría there is a smaller ski area Valdesqui in Puerto de Cotos.

Regular events

• carnival
• May 15th San Isidoro . Procession, music and dance.
• June 13th San Antonio . Procession, music and lemonade.
• August 15th Virgen de Gracia y San Roque . Bulls, music and dance.
• November 30th, San Andrés . Procession, chocolate and lunch.

Economy and Infrastructure

The main industry of Rascafría today is tourism, both winter and summer vacationers. Due to the great proximity to Madrid there are also many day tourists. In addition to numerous hotels, there is also a youth hostel.

traffic

The Lozoya Valley is accessed by the M-604 road, which, coming from the Puerto de Cotos (Cotos Pass) in the province of Segovia in the southeast, leads to the valley exit in the northeast. From there (20 km east of the town center) the A-1 motorway (Burgos-Madrid) continues to Madrid (96.3 km in total). Alternatively, you can drive to Madrid via the Puerto de Cotos and Cercedille passes (81.8 km).

The number 194 bus connects the town with Madrid (Plaza Castilla).

With the Ferrocarril de Guadarrama (train lines C-9 of the Cercanías Madrid ) from Los Cotos to Cercedilla and from there via the train line C-8b the place is connected to Madrid.

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. ↑ Instituto Estatística de Madrid: Buscar series por municipio: ( Memento of the original of December 14, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - Statistics database (Spanish) 
3. ^ Instituto Estatística de Madrid: Elecciones en la Comunidad de Madrid. Elecciones Locales - Results of the local elections 1987-2007 (span.)

Web links

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

• Rascafría (Spanish)