As was customary throughout all history of our civilisation, large cities of high strategic importance were built along large rivers. Such location helped (or rather allowed) for large-scale trade and made defending and developing the nearby areas easier. Madrid is certainly one such city, being the capital of Spain for many years now, even if you’re more familiar with Barcelona when it comes to Spanish cities. As such, when going to Madrid, what river can you expect there? Which river flows through Madrid?
Unlike Paris, Vienna, Budapest or London, Madrid’s river isn’t particularly majestic. At least comparatively, when put next to the Seine or Thames, the river flowing through Madrid is a bit underwhelming. And what river is that that we’re ramming on? Manzanares, flowing through the city and eventually emptying into Jarama.
The length of the river flowing through Madrid is only 57 miles. It flows into Jarama, which then passes into the longest river on the Iberian Peninsula, the river Tagus. Later, the three mixed rivers end up in the Atlantic Ocean.
Sure, Manzanares may be a bit underwhelming if our expectations are set on a large river being a must for a capital. Still, even this small little ditty was able to be of quite high importance in the history of the area. Firstly, as we discussed, large rivers allowed large cities to thrive, and it was no different here for Madrid. Secondly, Manzanares was an important defense line for Republicans during the Civil War, in the Siege of Madrid, proving a sturdy blockade in a pinch.
Thus, don’t worry. Even if Manzanares may seem a bit unimportant on the surface, it has played its part when it had to. And today it still adds lots of charm to Madrid, proving that, really, you don’t need much.
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