Geography of Madrid

Despite the capital of Spain being a city with a population of 5million, the Geography of Madrid retains some of the varied and unspoiled landscapes and habitats. The Geography of Madrid comprises mountains, Holm oaks and low-lying plains. The slopes of the Guadarrama are cloaked in dense forests of Scot's pine and Pyrenean oak. The Valle de Lozoya supports a large black monk vulture colony, and one of the largest bastions of the Spanish Imperial Eagle flock the Park Regional del Suroeste in the Dehesa Hills between the Gredos and the Guadarrama ranges. The geography of Madrid has been diversified by the detection of the Iberian lynx in the region between the Cofio and Alberche Rivers.

The biodiversity of the region is currently under a threat as the city continues to sprawl outwards and above into the Sierra fueled by the speculation and Anglo-American dreams of living in detached homes and government policies. The geography of Madrid is also influenced by the climate which is uniquely Mediterranean added with the presence of a large conurbation and the heat island effects, which are more pronounced here more than anywhere else in the country. The continental climate of Madrid owes itself to the inward location of the city. The city lights can be viewed from a distance of about 200 kms on a clear night.

Much of Madrid lies in the southern sub-meseta and hence it is relatively flat with an altitude of 650 m. To the west and close to the capital, the region raises steeply into the Sierra de Guadarrama of the Sistema Central, with the Pena Lara, Madrid's highest mountain range, 2428 m. The heart of Spain, in the province of Madrid, is characterized by the habitat of the Iberian Peninsula to the steppes and river valleys of the south. The rain fronts come from either the Mediterranean or the Atlantic.