The Guadalix is a river of Spain located in the centre of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...

, a right-bank tributary of the

Jarama Jarama () is a river in central Spain. It flows north to south, and passes east of Madrid where the El Atazar Dam is built on a tributary, the Lozoya River. It flows into the river Tagus in Aranjuez. The Manzanares is a tributary of the Jaram ...

. It springs out of the

Sierra de Guadarrama The Sierra de Guadarrama (Guadarrama Mountains) is a mountain range forming the main eastern section of the Sistema Central, the system of mountain ranges along the centre of the Iberian Peninsula. It is located between the systems Sierra de G ...

, in the valley flanked by the , el , the Alto de la Genciana and the Cordal de la Vaqueriza. Featuring a total length of 42 km, it runs southeastwards through the

Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; es, Comunidad de Madrid ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. It is located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, and of the Central Plateau (''Meseta Central''). Its capital and largest munic ...

until discharging in the Jarama near the Santo Domingo housing development (

Algete Algete () is a town and municipality in central Spain. It lies in the comarca de Alcalá in the autonomous community of the Community of Madrid. It had a population of 19,345 in 2008. Algete is northeast of the capital. Sights include the churc ...

), next to the

Jarama Circuit The Circuito del Jarama (Circuit of Jarama), formerly known as ''Circuito Permanente del Jarama'' (Permanent circuit of Jarama) is a motorsport racetrack located in San Sebastián de los Reyes, 20 miles (32 km) north of Madrid. It was home to th ...

. Its waters are impounded by the . Regarding the etymology of the hidronym ''Guadalix''; the prefix comes from the Arabic ''

wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water ...

'' ("river") while the suffix ''-alix'' has been identified either as an alleged Arab anthroponym or as possibly pre-Arab.

References

{{reflist Tributaries of the Jarama Rivers of the Community of Madrid