The Tajuña (; from the Latin ''Tagonius'') is a river in central

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, flowing through the provinces of

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

and

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 ...

. It is a tributary of the river

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 ...

which in turn is a tributary of 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 ...

. It rises in the

Sierra de Solorio The Solorio Range ( es, Sierra de Solorio) is a mountain range located in the western side of the Iberian System, Spain. It straddles Aragon, Castile-La Mancha and Castile and León. Description The ridge is roughly aligned in an E-W direction ...

, near the town of

Maranchón Maranchón is a municipality located in the province of Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE), the municipality had a population of 244 inhabitants. One of the biggest wind farms in Europe is located in the ...

(Guadalajara), at a location known as ''Fuente del Carro'' near the village of Clares.

Course

Near its source it flows through a landscape of high altitude

moorland Moorland or moor is a type of habitat found in upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and montane grasslands and shrublands biomes, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils. Moorland, nowadays, generally ...

s, through deep valleys of

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

era

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

, characterised by

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, clays, and silt. When hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. Marl makes up the lower part o ...

s and

dolomitic Dolomite () is an anhydrous carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate, ideally The term is also used for a sedimentary carbonate rock composed mostly of the mineral dolomite. An alternative name sometimes used for the dolomiti ...

. It has one

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

, ''La Tajera'', with an extension of 409 ha near Cifuentes. It crosses the villages of

Luzón Luzón is a municipality of Spain located in the province of Guadalajara, autonomous communityy of Castile-La Mancha. According to the 2012 census of the INE, the municipality has a population of only 79 inhabitants, having undergone a severe pop ...

Anguita Anguita is a municipality in the province of Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha, Spain, with a population of 203 in 2009. Geography Anguita is located in the Sistema Ibérico below Sierra Ministra. River Tajuña and its tributaries, La Madre an ...

Luzaga Luzaga is a village and municipality in the province of Guadalajara, Spain, part of the autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, co ...

Cortes de Tajuña Cortes, Cortés, Cortês, Corts, or Cortès may refer to: People * Cortes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), a Spanish conquistador Places * Cortes, Navarre, a village in the South border of N ...

Brihuega Brihuega is a municipality located in the Guadalajara (province), province of Guadalajara, Spain. According to the 2007 census (Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Spain), INE), the municipality had a population of 2,835 inhabitants. In 1710 a h ...

and

Renera Renera is a municipality located in the province of Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE INE, Ine or ine may refer to: Institutions * Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear research center * Ins ...

in Guadalajara province and enters Madrid province at

Ambite Ambite () is a municipality in the province of Madrid in central Spain. It belongs to the comarca of Alcalá. It has 382 inhabitants (INE 2005) in an area of , with a population density of 14.69 hab/km2. It lies above sea level. Ambite is home ...

; it then passes close to Orusco,

Carabaña Carabaña () is a small municipality in the autonomous community of Madrid in central Spain. It is located 50 km from Madrid close to the Autovía A-3, the main highway to Valencia, on the banks of the Tajuña River at a height of 625 m ab ...

Tielmes Tielmes is a municipality of 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 Pla ...

Perales de Tajuña Perales de Tajuña is a town and municipality of Spain located in the Community of Madrid. It is about 40 km to the southeast of Madrid in the area known as the ''Comarca de Las Vegas''. The municipality covers 48.92 km,2 and it has a po ...

and Morata de Tajuña, before joining the Jarama near

Titulcia Titulcia is a municipality of the Community of Madrid, Spain. History Supposedly of Roman origin, Titulcia is situated on the ancient military road from Emerita Augusta and Cesaraugusta (now Zaragoza). With the arrival of the Arabs, the city w ...

Climate

The climate in the river basin is Mediterranean, getting more arid closer to the Jarama. Rainfall is more frequent in autumn and winter.

Morphology

Being an internal river, its tributaries in the province of Guadalajara are seasonal streams which only contain water in spring. The Tajuña gets its water from springs and from the ''Calizas del Páramo de la Alcarria'' aquifer which covers 1,800 km² at a depth of 30–40 m.

References

* Spanish Wikipedia article {{DEFAULTSORT:Tajuna Rivers of Spain Rivers of the Community of Madrid Rivers of Castilla–La Mancha Tributaries of the Jarama