LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Madrid
built 656 days ago
The story of Madrid is the story of one Oscar Huber. Madrid was a coal-mining town owned and operated by the Albuquerque and Cerrillos Coal Company. Huber worked for the company beginning in 1910 and became superintendent after a few years then eventually buying the company. Electricity was unavailable to homes as late as 1913. Generated in a company powerhouse, electricity was limited to company uses only. After Huber acquired the company, he paved the streets, built new homes on lots made vacant by fires, constructed a six room hospital and made arrangements for unlimited use of electricity and much, much more.
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Madrid was one of the most heavily impacted cities of Spain by the Civil War (1936–1939). Its streets became battlegrounds. Madrid was a stronghold of the Republicans from July 1936. Its western suburbs were the scene of an all-out battle in November 1936. It was during the Civil War that Madrid became the first city to be bombed by airplanes, specifically targeting civilians in the history of warfare. (See Siege of Madrid (1936-39)).
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Prior to the reign of Philip II, Madrid had no particular significance as a city. Muslim rulers constructed a fortress, or alcazar, at the site, and a system of underground wells supplied water. Under Christian rule, Madrid developed to the east of the alcazar. It was among the places visited regularly by the rulers of Castile, who had no fixed capital city. Chronicles report that Queen Isabella I (ruled 1474–1504) held public audiences and dispensed justice in Madrid's alcazar, and the first Habsburg ruler of Spain, Charles I (1516–1556; ... ruled as Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire, 1519–1556), imprisoned Francis I of France in Madrid after his capture at the Battle of Pavia in Italy. East of Madrid, overlooking the fields, the Monastery of San Jeronimo stood, supported in part by royal donations.
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The region of Madrid has a temperate Mediterranean climate (Koppen Csa) with cool winters with temperatures that sometimes drop below 0 °C (32 °F). There are about 2 to 3 snowfalls each year. Summer tends to be hot with temperatures that consistently surpass 30 °C (86 °F) in July and that can often reach 40 °C (104 °F). Due to Madrid's high altitude and dry climate, nightly temperatures tend to be cooler, leading to a lower average in the summer months. These extremes give rise to the saying Nueve meses de invierno, tres meses de infierno (nine months of winter, three months of hell). Precipitation levels are low, but precipitation can be observed all throughout the year.
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Although nobles were ordered to leave an increasingly crowded Madrid in 1611, the population had grown to over 100,000 by 1621. Madrid had no medieval city walls to limit its size, and it continued to expand. The San Jeronimo monastery was the eastern boundary of the city until Philip IV (ruled 1621–1665) constructed his own new palace, the Buen Retiro, outside the city proper and to the east of San Jeronimo. Philip IV departed from the more severe style of his grandfather Philip II; the elaborate grounds housed gardens, a lake, a theatre and a zoo. The first Bourbon ruler of Spain, Philip V (ruled 1700–1746), attempted to remodel the Buen Retiro in the French style. Later rulers settled in the Royal Palace, constructed at the site of the alcazar, which was destroyed by fire.
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Madrid is honoring Picasso as well. Timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the return of “Guernica” to Spain, the Museo del Prado and the Museo Reina Sofía will jointly present, “Picasso: Tradition and Avant-garde” running from June through September. Focusing on Picasso’s important role in the history of art, the Prado will showcase an important group of the artist’s works offering a new perspective on his art. Picasso was the museum’s director during the Spanish Civil War and refused to have “Guernica” displayed in Spain during Franco’s time. The work was returned by the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1981. The Reina Sofía’s show will offer a different perspective, emphasizing the artist’s commitment to the world around him.
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