Móstoles () is a municipality of Spain located in the Community of Madrid. With over 200,000 inhabitants, it is the region's second most populated municipality after Madrid. Móstoles was a small town for a long time, but expanded rapidly in the second half of the 20th century.

The city also hosts the main campus of the Rey Juan Carlos University.

Geography

thumb|left|Móstoles as seen by the [[European Space Agency's Sentinel-2.]]

The municipality presents a largely flat relief. The main hydrographic features are the Guadarrama river at the western end of the municipality and several of the latter's left bank tributary creeks, including the Arroyo del Soto and the Arroyo de los Combos.

It lies at 660 metres above sea level.

History

Human beings have been present since the Paleolithic. Evidence of that fact are sites in which there are flint gravel and arrow tips.

Some traces of presence of Roman civilisation occur in the current municipality, specifically of the late period. They mainly consist of ceramic remains.

There is no evidence of a town in the current Móstoles during the Islamic rule era in Iberian Peninsula. However, there are some remains of this era in the territory.There are two main localities: Móstoles, which is placed in the east of the municipality, and Parque-Coimbra, which is located in the southwest. The city had a population of 209,184 in 2019 and Parque-Coimbra is home to 10,747 people.

Some neighbourhoods are acknowledged by the town council and other by the autonomous community (region) of Madrid. However, very few are recognised by the Spanish Statistics Institute such as Pinares Llanos and Parque Guadarrama.

According to the town council, the neighbourhoods are El Soto, Villaeuropa, Pinares Llanos, Azorín, San Fernando and Soto Vicente. All are located in the south or west. According to Comunidad de Madrid, the neighbourhoods are Los Rosales and Estoril II, which are placed in the north; Móstoles Central and Estoril, which are located in the northwest; Pradillo, which occurs in the centre; Villafontana, which is placed in the east; Versalles, which is located in the southeast; La Barra and Manuela Malasaña, which occur in the south; Las Cumbres and Coveta, which are located in the west; and El Soto, which occurs in the northwest.

The administrative division of the municipality are the districts and there are 5, which are:

The industrial estates in the municipality are Polígono Industrial El Lucero, in the northeast end; Polígono Industrial Los Rosales, in the northeast end; Prado Regordoño and Polígono Industrial la, in the east end; and Arroyomolinos, in the southern half.

The campus includes the Higher School of Experimental Sciences and Technology, where people can choose among 13 degrees and 8 double degrees; the Higher Technical school of Computer Engineering, which includes 6 degrees and 6 double degrees; and the Faculty of social and legal sciences, where there are 9 degrees and 7 double degrees.

An adult education centre and a centre of the national language teaching institution are also located in the municipality.

Museums and galleries

thumb|right|Façade of the CA2M

Móstoles is the home of the Community of Madrid's modern art gallery, the Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo (CA2M). It was opened in 2008 to mark the two hundredth anniversary of the Dos de Mayo uprising.

The residence of Andrés Torrejón was rehabilitated by the city council and turned into a museum.

Cycling

thumb|left|Móstoles-El Soto railway station

There is cycling infrastructure (Spanish: aceras bici, "bike-sidewalks") within central Móstoles. Funds were made available in 2017 to upgrade these cycleways.

Sport

  • Ciudad de Móstoles FS
  • Estadio El Soto
  • CD Móstoles
  • CD Móstoles URJC
  • FS Móstoles
  • Móstoles CF

Notable people

  • Iker Casillas, former professional goalkeeper, who played for Real Madrid, F.C. Porto and the Spain national football team.
  • Rubén de la Red, footballer
  • Alberto Lora, footballer
  • Rafael Martínez, gymnast
  • Christian Gálvez, actor and TV presenter
  • Raúl Arévalo, actor
  • Rubén Belima, footballer
  • Las Supremas de Móstoles, a popular singing pop band made up of three sisters
  • Máximo Cortés, racing driver
  • Francisco Garrigós, judoka
  • Esther Ortega Arjonilla, historian and activist

See also

  • Hermitage of Nuestra Señora de los Santos, cultural heritage hermitage

References

;Citations

;Bibliography

  • Ayuntamiento de Móstoles