About Leganés / Getafe, Madrid

Leganés is a town in central Spain. Part of the greater Madrid conurbation - mainly a working class satellite-city with a population of 184,481 (1 January 2005) it is located about 10 km southwest of the city centre.
 
On 3 April 2004 Leganés achieved a measure of unwanted notoriety when five of the suspects in the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks blew themselves up in an apartment building as police moved in to arrest them. All five were killed, along with one GEO police officer.
 
Leganés houses a branch of the Universidad Carlos III, founded in 1989, specifically the Escuela Politecnica Superior (EPS) where people can study Telecommunications, Industrial and Computer Engineering. Universidad Carlos III is one of the best universities in Spain. The other branches of Carlos III are in Getafe and Colmenarejo. This is the only one of the three campuses that has a swimming pool. But the three ones have a hall of residence, Leganes' one is called Fernando Abril Martorell with a capacity of 300 students.
 
It is connected to Madrid via the Cercanías (Train, line C5), and Metrosur, one of the lines of Metro. Leganés has 6 Metrosur's stations.
 
Parquesur, in Leganés, in early 90's was one of the biggest shopping centre in Europe.
 
Getafe is a city in the southern zone of the Madrid metropolitan area, Spain, and one of the most populated and industrialized cities in the municipality. The city is home to one of the oldest Spanish military air bases as well as the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Also located within the city is the Cerro de los Ángeles, or Hill of the Angels, a site considered to be the geographical center of the Iberian Peninsula. The city is located 13 km south of Madrid's city centre, within the metro area. It is situated within a flat area of Spain's Meseta Central in the Manzanares River basin.
 
Getafe's proximity to Madrid has propagated great industrial development during the 20th and 21st centuries. The industrialization of Getafe led to an increase in population to 159,300 (as of December 2007). Due to its industrial and social networks, the majority of residents work or study within the city, and has mitigated its transformation into a commuter town. The increase in population has led to the construction of numerous access roads, an increase in available public services, and the creation of new neighborhoods at the end of the 20th century.
 
 
Leganés, see Wikipedia (last visited Feb. 13, 2009).
Getafe, see Wikipedia (last visited Feb. 13, 2009).








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