Pinto () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities and 50 provinces of Spain, provinces of Spain. It is located at the heart of the Iberian Peninsula and Meseta Central, Central Plateau (); its capital and largest munici ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It is located in the central area of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

at an altitude of 604 meters, 20 kilometers south of

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, and covers 62.7 square kilometers. In 2018, Pinto had a population of 51,541. It is home to the Torre de Pinto, the Pinto Castle, and the Éboli Tower, which is a 14th-century tower used as a

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

for

nobles Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

who fell out of favor with the

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Name

The name may seemingly originate from the Latin ('tincted' or 'coloured').

History

In the wake of the border conflict between the lands of

Segovia Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia. Segovia is located in the Meseta central, Inner Pl ...

and

in the middle ages, the border was settled in a 1239 resolution, which established Pinto as a hamlet of Madrid, bordering with the ''

sexmo The or () was an administrative subdivision present in parts of medieval Castile corresponding to a grouping of rural hamlets within the territorial jurisdiction of a town council. Its articulation primarily responded to the purpose of tax A ...

'' of

Valdemoro Valdemoro is a municipal district, located in the Southern zone of the Madrid (autonomous community), autonomous community of Madrid, Spain. Located 27 kilometers from the Madrid, capital, Valdemoro is officially part of the comarca of La Sagra, ...

(an exclave of Segovia). The hamlet of Pinto was segregated from the jurisdiction of the land of Madrid in 1331 and granted to Martín Fernández de Toledo. However, the decision was overruled in 1132, and the hamlet returned to Madrid. Pinto became a seigneurial domain again in 1350, when

Peter I Peter I may refer to: Religious hierarchs * Saint Peter (c. 1 AD – c. 64–68 AD), a.k.a. Simon Peter, Simeon, or Simon, apostle of Jesus * Pope Peter I of Alexandria (died 311), revered as a saint * Peter I of Armenia (died 1058), Catholicos ...

granted the place to Íñigo López de Orozco, although it continued to be claimed by Madrid for decades to come.

Symbols

The blazon of the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

reads as follows:

Geography

Location

Pinto has a typical

Castilian plateau The ''Meseta Central'' (, sometimes referred to in English as Inner Plateau) is one of the basic geographical units of the Iberian Peninsula. It consists of a plateau covering a large part of the latter's interior. Developed during the 19th cent ...

landscape, with heavy urban expansion due to its proximity to the capital. The Arroyo de los Prados is a stream that passes through the village that was first cultivated in 1967. It is a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the Arroyo Culebro, which also runs through the village, creating the border between Pinto and

Getafe Getafe () is a municipalities in Spain, municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city c ...

. The area is also subject to flooding that occurs as a result of the Arroyo de los Prados rising. In the

southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

of the town lies the last remaining

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

of the municipality, Los Estragales, where up to 130 different types of birds have been identified.

Boundaries

*North:

*South:

Torrejón de Velasco Torrejón de Velasco is a municipality of the Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities and 50 provinces of Spain, provinces of Spain. It is located at the heart of the Iberian Peninsula a ...

and

*East:

San Martín de la Vega San Martín de la Vega is a Spanish municipality located in Comarca de Las Vegas, Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities and 50 provinces of Spain, provinces of Spain. It is located at ...

*West:

Parla Parla () is a municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain. It is located in the southern part of the region, approximately 20 km from the capital, Madrid. History Origins Earliest evidence of human occupation includes stone tools m ...

and

Fuenlabrada Fuenlabrada () is a city and municipality of Spain located in the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 193,586, making it the region's fourth most populated municipality. Placename The etymology of ''Fuenlabrada'' comes from the contra ...

Climate

Pinto has a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

with hot summers that can reach up to 40 °C and cold winters that can drop below 0 °C. Rainfall is scarce, with approximately 450 mm of precipitation annually, with autumn and spring being the rainiest seasons. Snowfalls, which, in the past, were relatively abundant, now occur infrequently.

Demography

According to the 2018 census, the total population of Pinto had risen to 51,541 inhabitants.

Politics and government

Mayors

Municipal politics after the transition

In 1979, with the arrival of

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

, Carlos Penit, the head of the regional

Communist Party of Spain The Communist Party of Spain (; PCE) is a communist party that, since 1986, has been part of the United Left coalition, which is currently part of Sumar. Two of its politicians are Spanish government ministers: Yolanda Díaz (Minister of L ...

(PCE), became the first mayor of Pinto, and was reelected in 1983, 1987, and 1991. In 1993, Gloria Razábal was elected by the municipal council, making her the first female mayor of Pinto. In 1995, Antonio Fernández, leader of the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...

(PSOE), became the mayor by a margin of 25 votes. He was reelected in the years 1999 and 2003 with a majority. Due to accusations of corruption, he resigned in 2005, and Juan Tendero became mayor. Pinto was considered a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

enclave until 2007 when the conservative Popular Party (PP) put itself within 3 points of the governing PSOE. After managing to double its share of votes from 21% to 42% in the prior four years, PP was then able to go into coalition with ''Juntos por Pinto'' (Together for Pinto; JpP) to govern with a stable majority and proclaim Miriam Rabaneda as the mayor of Pinto. The

legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

was full of political tension. A

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

from Juntos por Pinto, Reyes Maestre, changed his mind concerning a motor space project, supporting its construction. This provoked a crisis within the PP-JpP government. On 22 December 2008 a motion of

censure A censure is an expression of strong disapproval or harsh criticism. In parliamentary procedure, it is a debatable main motion that could be adopted by a majority vote. Among the forms that it can take are a stern rebuke by a legislature, a sp ...

was presented by PSOE/IU/JpP against the Popular Party and PSOE member Juan José Martín Nieto was proclaimed as the new mayor, obtaining a majority in the municipal council. The political tension in Pinto was constant. In February 2010, the former mayor Miriam Rabaneda and her sister Tamara Rabaneda, former councillor of the Treasury, were charged for alleged

malfeasance Misfeasance, nonfeasance, and malfeasance are types of failure to discharge public obligations existing by common law, custom, or statute. The Carta de Logu caused Eleanor of Arborea to be remembered as one of the first lawmakers to set up t ...

due to irregularities in the municipal accounts. The case was subsequently dismissed by a court in the town of

. In October 2010, Reyes Maestre was terminated as deputy mayor by the mayor of Pinto. In the municipal elections on 22 May 2011, the Popular Party won another majority and Miriam Rabaneda took back the mayorship of the municipality from Juan José Martín Nieto. These elections led to the emergence of the party

UPyD Union, Progress and Democracy ( , UPyD ) was a Spanish political party founded in September 2007 and dissolved in December 2020. It was a social-liberal party that rejected any form of nationalism, especially the separatist Basque and Catalan m ...

in Pinto, which won two seats, thus becoming a new political force represented in the City Council. The electorate punished Juntos por Pinto'','' then headed by Reyes Mastre, as well as the United Left party (IU), which gained no representation. In 2015, the municipal elections held that no party had managed to obtain an absolute majority, with UPyD losing both of its seats. In these elections, the party Ganemos Pinto (a coalition between several minor parties, including '' Podemos)'' gained seven seats alongside PP, PSOE, which gained five, and

Ciudadanos Citizens (Spanish language, Spanish: ; ; shortened as Cs—C's until January 2017), officially Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (''Ciudadanos–Partido de la Ciudadanía'', CS), is a Liberalism, liberal List of political parties in Spain, politi ...

with two. An alliance between ''Ganemos Pinto'' and PSOE granted Rafael Sánchez Romero the mayorship.

Main sights

*''Ermita de San Antón'' (" Saint Anthony Abbot hermitage") — Its environment was transformed after the construction of a nearby mall. The hermitage was rebuilt during the 19th century. *''Ermita del Cristo'' ("

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

hermitage") — In its interior is a crucified Christ that is popular with pilgrims. *''Iglesia parroquial de Santo Domingo de Silos'' ("Parish of Saint Dominic of Silos") *''Torre de Eboli'' ("Tower of Eboli) — The

Princess of Eboli Princess is a title used by a female member of a regnant monarch's family or by a female ruler of a principality. The male equivalent is a prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for t ...

was imprisoned in this location. *''Centro Cultural

Infanta Cristina Infanta Cristina (Cristina Federica Victoria Antonia de la Santísima Trinidad de Borbón y de Grecia, born 13 June 1965) is the younger daughter of King Juan Carlos I and his wife, Queen Sofía. She is sixth in the line of succession to the S ...

'' — It was thought until recently that this building, then known as ''Casa de la Cadena'' ("House of the Chain"), provided accommodation for the

Catholic Monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Isabella I of Castile, Queen Isabella I of Crown of Castile, Castile () and Ferdinand II of Aragon, King Ferdinand II of Crown of Aragón, Aragon (), whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of ...

, but serious historical studies have disproved such a possibility. *''Centro Municipal de Cultura'' ("Local Culture Center") *''Teatro Municipal Francisco Rabal'' ("

Francisco Rabal Francisco Rabal Valera (8 March 1926 – 29 August 2001), popularly known as Paco Rabal, was a Spanish actor. His career spanned more than 200 film and television roles, between 1942 and 2001. He received numerous accolades both in Spain and abro ...

Town Theatre") *''Parque Juan Carlos I'' ("Juan Carlos I Park")

Notable people

Alberto Contador Alberto Contador Velasco (; born 6 December 1982) is a Spanish former professional cyclist. He is one of the most successful riders of his era, winning the Tour de France twice (2007, 2009), the Giro d'Italia twice (2008, 2015), and the Vuelta ...

— twice winner of the Tour de France, twice winner of the Giro d'Italia, and three time winner of the Vuelta a España *

Sandra Aguilar Sandra Aguilar Navarro (born 9 August 1992 in Madrid) is a Spanish group rhythmic gymnast. Career Sandra Aguilar represents her nation at international competitions. She participated at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She competed at world champion ...

— Olympic medalist in

rhythmic gymnastics Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform individually or in groups on a floor with an apparatus: hoop (rhythmic gymnastics), hoop, ball (rhythmic gymnastics), ball, Clubs (rhythmic gymnastics), clubs, ribbon (rhythmic gymnastics), ...

References

External links

Official websitePinto
at the Instituto Nacional de Estadística {{authority control Municipalities in the Community of Madrid