Las Rozas de Madrid
Encyclopedia
Las Rozas de Madrid is one of the larger townships and municipalities
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 in the autonomous community of Madrid
Madrid (autonomous community)
The Community of Madrid is one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. It is located at the center of the country, the Iberian Peninsula, and the Castilian Central Plateau . The community is also conterminous with the province of Madrid and contains the capital of Spain, which is also...

, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, with an area of between 58.8 and 59.14 km² . It is located some 18 - 20 km northwest of the city of Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

 itself, on the A-6 highway to La Coruña near the fork road M-505 to El Escorial
El Escorial
The Royal Seat of San Lorenzo de El Escorial is a historical residence of the king of Spain, in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, about 45 kilometres northwest of the capital, Madrid, in Spain. It is one of the Spanish royal sites and functions as a monastery, royal palace, museum, and...

, which marks the southern boundary of this ´comarca' or rural district (although it is no longer rural).

The municipality is served by four RENFE
RENFE
Renfe Operadora is the state-owned company which operates freight and passenger trains on the 1668-mm "Iberian gauge" and 1435-mm "European gauge" networks of the Spanish national railway infrastructure company ADIF .- History :The name RENFE is derived from that of the former Spanish National...

 railway stations– Las Rozas, Las Matas, El Pinar and El Tejar – more than any other Madrid municipality. A fifth stop, at Penescales was closed. The municipality shares borders with Torrelodones
Torrelodones
Torrelodones is a municipality in the northwest of the Autonomous Community of Madrid, Spain. It is situated 29 kilometers northwest from the city of Madrid...

 to the north, Villanueva del Pardillo
Villanueva del Pardillo
Villanueva del Pardillo is a municipality of the Community of Madrid, Spain....

 and Galapagar
Galapagar
Galapagar is a town northwest of Madrid, Spain, situated in the administrative region of the Community of Madrid. Of all the towns in the area, it was experiencing the most growth, mostly because of immigration and the conversion of old livestock fields into terrain for construction.Galapagar is...

 to the west, the national park of Monte del Pardo (Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

) in the east and Majadahonda
Majadahonda
Majadahonda is a municipality in Spain, situated 16 km northwest of Madrid, in the Community of Madrid. In 2009 the population was 66,585 inhabitants .It lies alongside the motorway A6 Madrid-A Coruña....

 (south).

Las Rozas has one of the highest average per capita incomes in the Community of Madrid.

During the final decades of the 20th century the town has experienced a vigorous building program, mostly as a dormitory town for Madrid, with a correspondingly strong population growth, which more than doubled between 1991 and 2005 (from 35,137 to 76,246 inhabitants).

The provisioning for local services (such as schools and new dwellings) has at times been outpaced by the locality's high birth and immigration rates. However by 2010 the community was well served in all health, education and social sectors.

History

Main article: History of Las Rozas
History of Las Rozas
According to some historians Las Rozas de Madrid could have been a Roman mansion or staging-post called Miacum, from which the name Madrid may have derived...



Rozas means clearings in Spanish. Various theories exist, for example: The clearing by Romans for military exercises, the collection of firewood or the creation of farmland. According to some historians Las Rozas could be the old Miacum, the name associated with the city of Madrid, dating from about the third century.

Las Rozas is situated near the river Guadarrama
Guadarrama
Guadarrama is a town in the Community of Madrid in Spain.Pop: 13032 , approx. 60000 .Co-ordinates . not true...

 (which flows all year round) and along the ancient road between Segovia
Segovia
Segovia is a city in Spain, the capital of Segovia Province in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is situated north of Madrid, 30 minutes by high speed train. The municipality counts some 55,500 inhabitants.-Etymology:...

 and Titulcia
Titulcia
' is a municipality of the Community of Madrid, Spain.Of supposedly Roman origin, Titulcia is situated on the ancient military road from Emerita Augusta and Cesaraugusta ' is a municipality of the Community of Madrid, Spain.Of supposedly Roman origin, Titulcia is situated on the ancient military...

 (two of the most ancient settlements in the area). The part of this ancient road near Las Rozas is now approximately the A6/M505 route.

During the Spanish civil war it became the site of major battles, a reminder of this time are the concrete forms of bunkers that remain in the Dehesa of Navalcarbón and along the valley of the river Guadalajara.

In the winter of 1936 the pro-Franco troops advanced for the west of Madrid from their bases at Brunete, Villaviciosa de Odón and Campamento. In the middle of a dense fog with freezing temperature, Franco's nationalists, supported by the air force, engaged the republican forces in one of the bloodiest battles of the civil War. The inhabitants of Las Rozas took refuge in other places of the nearby Sierra (mountains) such as the caves in Hoyo de Manzanares. These roceños (inhabitants of Las Rozas) who fled were nicknamed cucos, (the sly ones).

When the war was over, the Church of San Miguel and of the 270 houses of the (pre-war) settlement, 92 were severely damaged and only 13 were intact. The Ministerio de la Gobernación created the Dirección General de Regiones Devastadas for the reconstruction of towns destroyed by the war and Las Rozas was included among them.

Transportation

Las Rozas can be reached from the Autovía A-6
Autovía A-6
The Autovía A-6 or Autopista AP-6 is a Spanish autovía and autopista route which starts in Madrid and ends in Arteixo ....

 (highway that goes from Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

 to A Coruña
A Coruña
A Coruña or La Coruña is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. It is the second-largest city in the autonomous community and seventeenth overall in the country...

), M-50 (third ring road around Madrid) and M-505 (highway of El Escorial).

There are 7 bus lines that connect the town with Moncloa (Madrid) 621, 624 (Burgo of Las Rozas), 622 (Las Matas), 623 (VillaFranca del Castillo), 626, 628, 629 (new zones like the Business Park, La Dehesa and El Cantizal). There is also another bus line (561) that connects Las Rozas with Aluche (Madrid), passing through Majadahonda and Pozuelo.

Las Rozas has three main train station
Train station
A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...

s: Las Rozas, near the Old Town in the south of the municipality, Las Matas in the North, and El Pinar. The (dark green) Lines 8 + 9 run from Atocha in the south of Madrid and Chamartín in the north of Madrid via El Tejar, El Pinar and Las Matas to end-stations El Escorial
El Escorial
The Royal Seat of San Lorenzo de El Escorial is a historical residence of the king of Spain, in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, about 45 kilometres northwest of the capital, Madrid, in Spain. It is one of the Spanish royal sites and functions as a monastery, royal palace, museum, and...

, Cercedilla
Cercedilla
Cercedilla is a municipality of the Community of Madrid, Spain. It is located in the Sierra de Guadarrama. It was the hometown of Francisco Fernández Ochoa , an alpine ski racer known for being the first Spaniard to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics. He won the slalom in 1972 in Japan...

 and Cotos Ski station
Sierra de Guadarrama
The Sierra de Guadarrama is a mountain range forming the main eastern section of the Sistema Central, the system of mountain ranges at the centre of the Iberian Peninsula. It is located between the Sierra de Gredos in the province of Ávila, and Sierra de Ayllón in the province of Guadalajara...

. Line 10 runs also runs from Atocha, but via a long circular route to Principe Pio
Príncipe Pío
La montaña del Príncipe Pío is the name of a hill in the western part of Madrid, Spain.It is named after the prince Pius of Savoy, who owned property there.Later, barracks were constructed there....

 in the west of Madrid via Las Rozas, Pinar and Las Matas to Villalba
Villalba
-Places:Italy*Villalba, Sicily, a comune in the Province of CaltanissettaPuerto Rico*Villalba, Puerto Rico, a municipio in the Commonwealth of Puerto RicoSpain*Collado Villalba, a municipio in the Community of Madrid...

. A circular line runs around Madrid serving Las Rozas. El Tejar is merely an occasional interchange halt between lines 8, 9, and 10 (there are no facilities or habitation nearby). A fifth stop, the halt at Los Peñascales (near Las Matas) was suppressed entirely.

There is a project proposal to encourage ecologically sustainable transport, especially of electrical scooters, entitled Las Rozas: la Capital Verde del Noroeste de Madrid
which suggests either El Pinar or Las Matas should have a park and Ride
Park and ride
Park and ride facilities are car parks with connections to public transport that allow commuters and other people wishing to travel into city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system , or carpool for the rest of their trip...

 facility providing access to major retailers in the municipality as well as commuter links to Madrid city. The nearby autovía A-6
Autovía A-6
The Autovía A-6 or Autopista AP-6 is a Spanish autovía and autopista route which starts in Madrid and ends in Arteixo ....

 is regularly congested at an accident blackspot
Accident blackspot
An accident blackspot is a term used in road safety management to denote a place where road traffic accidents have historically been concentrated...

 about "Km 16" (near Majadahonda
Majadahonda
Majadahonda is a municipality in Spain, situated 16 km northwest of Madrid, in the Community of Madrid. In 2009 the population was 66,585 inhabitants .It lies alongside the motorway A6 Madrid-A Coruña....

) some 5Km south of Las Rozas (which is at "Km 22" from Madrid).

Cinema

During the 1960s, Las Rozas was used as a film set, with one studio that Samuel Bronston built being a luxurious mansion near Las Matas. It was one of the most important film studios in Europe and aimed to be the largest in the world, but commercial failures such as 55 Days at Peking
55 Days at Peking
55 Days at Peking is a 1963 historical epic film starring Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, and David Niven, made by Samuel Bronston Productions, and released by Allied Artists. The movie was produced by Samuel Bronston and directed by Nicholas Ray, Andrew Marton , and Guy Green...

prevented Las Rozas from becoming a famous film making location. For the filming of 55 Days at Peking many locals (called "roceños") were employed as extras and as the bricklayers that built the sets decorated them in tribute to the beauty of Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...

. It is believed an artificial river was constructed and filled by tankers.

A road across the Dehesa of Navalcarbón is named in Samuel Bronston's honour. He wished to be buried in Las Rozas, but his remains were finally put to rest in Alicante, Spain.

Culture

There are many cultural activities mainly based around the Joaquín Rodrigo
Joaquín Rodrigo
Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre, 1st Marquis of the Gardens of Aranjuez , commonly known as Joaquín Rodrigo, was a composer of classical music and a virtuoso pianist. Despite being nearly blind from an early age, he achieved great success...

 Auditorium, which includes a school of music and dance, four cultural centres, three libraries and five exhibition facilities.

Listed on the official web-site of the municipality there is: an annual Carnival, Concierts of Sacred Music, Coral Music and Folk Winter Festival as well as The Compositores de España International Piano Competition
Compositores de España International Piano Competition
The Compositores de España International Piano Competition is held annually at Las Rozas de Madrid's Joaquín Rodrigo Auditorium since 2000. Each edition revolves around the works of a usually living Spanish composer.-Palmares:-References:*...

 which has been held here since about 2000.

There are also various themed street-markets, fairs celebrating horsemanship in April, various seafood and tapas exhibitions in the summer and Festibike international cycling event in the autumn.

Sports

Sporting events have always been very important in Las Rozas and it is the only municipality that won two national sports prizes, in part due to the excellent training facilities available.

Las Rozas has a football (soccer) team which competes in the Spanish Third Division (level four of the Spanish football league system). Additionally the town has an indoor football/[futsal] team that was recently relegated to the silver division. During the 1990s the basketball team also performed well and narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premier division, today known as ACB.

Las Rozas has also a Basketball team wich competes in Spanish third level called "LIGA LEB PLATA". Las Rozas Basketball club is growing year before year and now have more than 25 teams in their rows.

For the last 15 years Las Rozas has also had a significant Rugby team called A.D Ingenieros Industriales who have competed in the National First Division (the third level in Spanish Rugby). The club uses an artificial pitch in the Cantizal zone. Also playing at the el Cantizal field are the Las Rozas Black Demons, an American Football team competing in the LNFA.

Another noticeable facility in the municipality is the Ciudad del fútbol de la Real Federación Española de Fútbol (Royal Spanish Football Federation's Football City), build on lands donated by the Town Council. On two occasions the TSJM has failed to secure the return of these municipal plots.

Other popular sports are the Toad in the hole
Toad in the hole (game)
Toad in the hole is a pub game, involving throwing brass coins at a lead topped table with a hole in the middle. A variation of this game has been played in pubs in East Sussex, UK, the 'hole' being in the centre of the lead which is on top of a wooden table...

, Hammer throw
Hammer throw
The modern or Olympic hammer throw is an athletic throwing event where the object is to throw a heavy metal ball attached to a wire and handle. The name "hammer throw" is derived from older competitions where an actual sledge hammer was thrown...

, Calva, a sort of Horseshoes
Horseshoes
Horseshoes is an outdoor game played between two people using four horseshoes and two throwing targets set in a sandbox area. The game is played by the players alternating turns tossing horseshoes at stakes in the ground, which are traditionally placed 40 feet apart...

 and chito, a pastime in which a diskus
Discus throw
The discus throw is an event in track and field athletics competition, in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than his or her competitors. It is an ancient sport, as evidenced by the 5th century BC Myron statue, Discobolus...

 is aimed at a target upon which a coin is balanced .

Incomplete list of Mayors

  • Juan Mingo Barrio (1576)
  • Francisco Labrandero (known as el mozo probably meaning "the younger"), (1576)
  • Joseph López Irrarraga (1751)
  • Blas Gregorio (1751)
  • Matías Rubio (1787)
  • Francisco Benito (1787)
  • Benito Velasco (1866)
  • Baltasar Lázaro (1931)
  • Blas Riaza (1935)
  • Agustín Plaza (1939)
  • Joaquín Lázaro Benito (1942)
  • José González Cabeza (1943 - 1966)
  • Santiago de la Cruz de la Fuente (1966 - 1970)
  • Jesús Benito Sánchez (1971 - 1979)

Democratically elected Mayors (since the Spanish Constitution of 1978
Spanish Constitution of 1978
-Structure of the State:The Constitution recognizes the existence of nationalities and regions . Preliminary Title As a result, Spain is now composed entirely of 17 Autonomous Communities and two autonomous cities with varying degrees of autonomy, to the extent that, even though the Constitution...

  • Benito Garrido Turrillo (April 1979 - October 1979)
  • Luis Schake de Miguel (October 1979 - May 1980)
  • Doroteo Lázaro Mingo (May 1980 - October 1981)
  • Luis Schake de Miguel (November 1981 - April 1983)
  • Jesús Zúñiga Pérez-Lemaur (1983 - 1995) PSOE
    Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
    The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in...

  • Bonifacio de Santiago Prieto (1995 - 2011) PP
    People's Party (Spain)
    The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship...

  • José Ignacio Fernández Rubio (2011 - Present) PP
    People's Party (Spain)
    The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship...


Demographics

(
Fuente: Instituto de estadítica de la Comunidad de Madrid
The first column is the value of the data in the municipality, the second is of the Metropolitan Western zone, the third is that of the community and the last one the year.

{|class="wikitable" align="center"
|+ Population
|- style="background:#efefef;"
! !! municipality !! WESTERN zone!! Community of Madrid!! Year
|-
! Population
| 68,061 || 382,139 || 5,804,829 || 2004
|-
! Men
| 32,914 || 186,756 || 2,806,631 || 2004
|-
! Women
| 35,147 || 195,383 || 2,998,198 || 2004
|-
! Relative growth population
| 1.87 || 3.27 || 1.50 || 2004
|-
! Degree of youth
| 19.29 || 19.24 || 14.43 ||2004
|-
! Degree of aging
| 7.82 || 8.44 || 14.56 || 2004
|-
! Proportion of dependence
| 0.37 || 0.38 || 0.41|| 2004
|-
! Proportion of replacement
| 1.34 || 1.32 || 1.32 || 2004
|-
! Reason of progressiveness
|114.52 || 110.36 || 116.21 || 2004
|-
! Rate of femininity
| 1.06 || 1.04 || 1.07 || 2003
|-
! Birthrate
|16.98 || 15.06 || 11.23 || 2002
|-
! General rate of fertility
|54.97 || 50.62 || 40.64 || 2002
|-
! Rate of marriage
|5.78 || 5.38 || 5.35 || 2002
|-
! Rate of mortality
|5.41 || 4.47 || 6.98 || 2002
|-
! Births mothers under 30 years old (%)
|20.22 || 24.02 || 34.71 || 2002
|-
! Deaths under 50 years old (%)
| 6.57 || 10.31 || 8.34 || 2002
|-
! Growth vegetativo per 1.000 inhabitants
| 11.57 || 10.59 || 4.25 || 2002
|-
! Foreigners per 1,000 inhabitants
| 103.64 || 120.93 || 121.17 || 2004
|-
! Women on total registered foreigners (%)
|58.99 || 54.21 || 50.06 || 2004
|-
! Births from foreign mothers (%)
|9.38 || 12.66 || 17.37 || 2002
|-
! Rate of immmigration
|23.36 || 23.47 || 16.,23 || 2003
|-
! Foreigners per nationality (%)
|-
! American
|5.99 || 6.80|| 6.87 || 2004
|-
! African
|0.87 || 1.80 || 1.59 || 2004
|-
! Asian
|0.57 || 0.44 || 0.63 || 2004
|-
! Unemployment registered per 100 inhabitants
|2.59 || 2.62 || 3.61 || 2003
|-
! Evolution of unemployment registered (%)
| -0.02 || 0.05|| -0.12 || 2004
|-
! Affiliated to S.S per 1,000 inhabitants
|439.76 || 346.96 || 445.73 || 2003
|-
! Rate of female activity
| 51.55 || 48.89 || 42.59 || 2001
|-
! Employed (%)
|-
! Agrarian sector
| 0.67 || 1.05 || 0.80 || 2001
|-
! Industrial sector
| 10.20 || 10.36 || 13.51 || 2001
|-
! Construction sector
| 5.16 || 7.55 ||9.61 || 2001
|-
! Services sector
| 83.96 || 81.04 || 76.08 || 2001
|}

Popular festivals

  • 29 September: San Miguel Arcangel Day (St Michael Archangel). To celebrate the patron saint of the city, bullfights, concerts, gigantic paellas and popular contests are organized.

  • First Sunday of May: Virgin of the Retamosa. The Virgin of the Retamosa is transferred in a procession from the Church of San Miguel Arcangel to the chapel situated in the Dehesa de Navalcarbón, once there a romería with dancing and contests is held.

  • 1 May: San José Obrero (St Joseph the Worker), Labor Day,(Las Matas). Bullfights and concerts are organized.

  • 6 January: At midnight on Epiphany, night of the Three Wise Men, draftees light the bonfire they've been preparing during the day, lately this tradition is being lost for two main motives, on one hand the objective was to get together all the young men drafted for active duty (military service), nowadays as the draft has been abolished it does not make sense and on the other hand the site of the bonfire is suffering constant moves due to real estate developments, from being held at the Plaza Mayor, then at the Plaza of Spain, subsequently next to the Auditorium and finally but not last at its present location at the Montecillo.

External links

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