Torrejón de Ardoz
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Torrejón de Ardoz is a town in the urban area of Madrid, Spain that has about 110,000 inhabitants.
It is located 20 km east of Madrid, on the Autovía A-2 (Madrid-Barcelona highway). It is essentially a dormitory town, mostly consisting of apartments. It can be reached by bus from Av. de América bus station in Madrid (about 20 minutes) or by commuter train from Madrid Atocha railway station (30m).
The European Union Satellite Centre, an agency of the European Union, is located in Torrejón de Ardoz. It is also the location of the headquarters of the Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, the spanish space agency.
There is also a military airbase in Torrejón de Ardoz. This base receives business jets, and its runway can be seen to the right when landing at Madrid's Barajas airport. For years, the American Air Force occupied the base under agreements made with Francisco Franco; protecting NATO's southern flank. One of the election platforms of Felipe González's Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) was to close the base to the American fighter wing. Keeping his election promise, the then 401st Tactical Fighter Wing's (now the 401st Air Expeditionary Wing) lease was not renewed and the F-16 fighter wing left the base in the very early nineties.
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[edit] History
There is no certainty of the origin of Torrejon de Ardoz, but it probably dates from the 12th century, associated to fortifications built to protect Alcalá de Henares. [1]
In 1843 it was the place of a short battle between general Ramón Narvaez and senator Antonio Seoane, as part of the rebellion against Espartero.[2]
During the opening stages of the Spanish Civil War, the fields between Torrejón and Paracuellos del Jarama were the site of the Paracuellos massacre, in which many Nationalist soldiers and alleged civilian supporters were killed by Republican militiamen.
Recently, it was the birthplace of former Toronto Raptors forward Jorge Garbajosa, Real Madrid midfielder Guti and professional wrestler Glenn Jacobs, better known by his ring name Kane.
[edit] Climate
| Climate data for Torrejon de Ardoz | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 9 (48) |
11 (51) |
15 (59) |
17 (62) |
23 (73) |
27 (80) |
31 (87) |
31 (87) |
26 (78) |
19 (66) |
12 (53) |
9 (48) |
18.9 (66.0) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 1 (33) |
1 (33) |
4 (39) |
5 (41) |
9 (48) |
13 (55) |
16 (60) |
15 (59) |
13 (55) |
8 (46) |
3 (37) |
1 (33) |
7.2 (44.9) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 38 (1.5) |
51 (2) |
30 (1.2) |
38 (1.5) |
36 (1.4) |
25 (1) |
10 (0.4) |
10 (0.4) |
33 (1.3) |
61 (2.4) |
71 (2.8) |
53 (2.1) |
457 (18) |
| Source: Weatherbase [3] | |||||||||||||
[edit] References
- ^ Torrejón Townhall website (in spanish)
- ^ Torrejón Townhall website (in spanish)
- ^ "Weatherbase: Historical Weather for Torrejon de Ardoz, Spain". Weatherbase. 2011. http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=82271&refer=wikipedia. Retrieved on November 24, 2011.
[edit] See also
Coordinates: 40°27′N 3°29′W / 40.45°N 3.483°W
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