The Manzanares () is a
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
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, defi ...
, which flows from 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 ...
, passes through
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
, and eventually empties into the
Jarama river
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 River, Manzanares is a tribut ...
, which in turn is a right-bank tributary to the
Tagus
The Tagus ( ; es, Tajo ; pt, Tejo ; see #Name, below) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales near Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally west with two main south-westward sections ...
.
In its urban section, the Manzanares River was modified to create a section of water several meters deep, in some parts navigable by canoes. This project of channeling and damming has been partially reversed in a re-naturalization project.
Course
Sources
The Manzanares has its sources in the southern slope of the , a branch 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 ...
(the main eastern section of the
Sistema Central
The Central System, Spanish and pt, Sistema Central, is one of the main systems of mountain ranges in the Iberian Peninsula. The 2,592 m high Pico Almanzor is its highest summit.
The Central System is located just north of the 40th parallel an ...
), in the municipality of
Manzanares el Real
Manzanares el Real is a 8,936 inhabitant town (2020 statistics fro in the northern area of the autonomous Community of Madrid. It is located at the foot of The Pedriza, a part of the Sierra de Guadarrama, and next to the ''embalse de Santillana' ...
, in the
Madrid region
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 munici ...
.
It is formally called Manzanares after the confluence of the arroyo de la Condesa and the Arroyo de Valdemartín.
The Arroyo de la Condesa is in turn born in the , a traditionally resilient snowdrift, and its watershed comprises the slopes in between
La Maliciosa (2,227 m), the Alto de las Guarramillas—aka the (2,258 m)—and the (2,282 m).
The Arroyo de Valdemartín's watershed spans from the Alto de Valdemartín to the Cabeza de Hierro Menor (2,373 m).
Upper course
The upper river basin is protected as the ''
Parque Regional de la Cuenca Alta del Manzanares
Parque is the Galician, Portuguese and Spanish word for "park", and may refer to:
* Parque (TransMilenio), a metro station in Bogotá, Colombia
* Parque (Lisbon Metro), in Portugal
* Parque (Santurce), a subbarrio in San Juan, Puerto Rico
* Jim ...
'', a nature reserve which is recognised as a
biosphere reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...
by
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
.
The Manzanares flows in a south-eastern direction from its sources, and passes through the medieval town of
Manzanares el Real
Manzanares el Real is a 8,936 inhabitant town (2020 statistics fro in the northern area of the autonomous Community of Madrid. It is located at the foot of The Pedriza, a part of the Sierra de Guadarrama, and next to the ''embalse de Santillana' ...
where it is dammed to form the
Santillana reservoir
Santillana reservoir, also known as Manzanares el Real reservoir ( es, embalse de Santillana or ''embalse de Manzanares el Real''), is a body of water along the Manzanares river located in the municipalities of Manzanares el Real and Soto del Real ...
, one of the most important water supplies for the capital.
The river then takes a southern direction and enters the
Monte de El Pardo
The Monte de El Pardo is a large forested area in Madrid, Spain, extending roughly across one quarter of the total municipal area.
The Monte de El Pardo has an area of 15289.12 ha. It was already mentioned as hunting ground in the Alfonso XI's ...
, an ecologically valuable area on the edge of Madrid.
Urban course
The river was canalised where it passes through the built-up areas of the city. In the 21st century the river was restored to provide biodiversity and facilities for Madrid residents.
The Manzanares skims past the westernmost part of the city and further downstream serves as a dividing line between the old centre of the city and the
Carabanchel
Carabanchel is a district of Madrid, Spain. It lies on the southern (right) bank of the Manzanares, spanning southward down to the M-40 ring road. The district is made up of the neighbourhoods of Abrantes, Comillas, Opañel, Puerta Bonita, San ...
and
Usera
Usera is a district of Madrid, Spain. It lies on the southern (right) bank of the Manzanares. It is home to about a 10% of the Chinese citizens in the whole Madrid region.
History
The district was created in the city restructuring that took p ...
neighbourhoods to the southwest. It is along this stretch that it passes next to
Atlético Madrid
Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...
's former football ground, the
Vicente Calderón. The river leaves the city at its southernmost tip.
Lower course
It makes a strong eastern turn which takes it past the village of
Perales del Río
Perales (Spanish: ''pear trees'') may refer to:
Places
* Perales, Palencia, Castile and León, Spain
* Perales, Los Santos, Panama
* Perales del Alfambra, in Teruel, Aragón, Spain
* Perales del Puerto, in Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain
* Perales ...
. It empties into 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 Jarama ...
within the municipal limits of
Rivas Vaciamadrid
Rivas-Vaciamadrid () is the 15th most populated city in the Community of Madrid, Spain. It belongs to the Madrid metropolitan area and is located just 15 km from central Madrid, to the south-east. In the southern part of the municipality, the ...
.
Historical importance
The river Manzanares, although small and relatively unimportant geographically, has had a great historical importance due to its close relation to the city of Madrid, which was founded by the
Moors
The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a distinct or ...
as a citadel overlooking the river in the ninth century.
The river is also featured in many paintings of the late 18th to early 19th-century painter
Francisco de Goya
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and ...
, which show traditionally dressed ''Madrileños'' in activities like dancing or having picnics next to the river.
The Manzanares was also an important defence line for the Republican forces during the
Siege of Madrid
The siege of Madrid was a two-and-a-half-year siege of the Republican-controlled Spanish capital city of Madrid by the Nationalist armies, under General Francisco Franco, during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). The city, besieged from Octo ...
in the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
, and many bunkers can still be seen near the village of Perales del Río. The
Bridge of the French was of crucial importance because of its strategic location. There, nationalist forces were repeatedly repelled and denied access to Madrid’s city centre.
[See: ]Coronel Carlos Romero Giménez
Coronel may refer to:
* Archaic and Spanish variant of colonel
* Coronel, Chile, a port city in Chile
* Battle of Coronel off the Chilean coast during World War I
* The World War II German auxiliary cruiser HSK ''Coronel'', see German night fight ...
See also
*
List of rivers of Spain
This is an incomplete list of rivers that are at least partially in Spain. The rivers flowing into the sea are sorted along the coast. Rivers flowing into other rivers are listed by the rivers they flow into. Rivers in the mainland Iberian Peninsu ...
*
Praga Bridge
*
Puente de Segovia
*
Arganzuela Footbridge
*
Bridge of Toledo
References
;Citations
;Bibliography
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manzanares (River)
Rivers of Spain
Geography of Madrid
Tributaries of the Jarama
Rivers of the Community of Madrid