Where to Stay in Getafe, Comunidad de Madrid

What is Getafe known for?

The Cerro de los Ángeles, crowned by the Monumento al Sagrado Corazón de Jesús del Cerro de los Ángeles, has long been taken as the geographical centre of the Iberian Peninsula, and it stands inside the municipal limits. The cathedral of the Magdalene gives the town a church seat of its own. Add the Getafe Air Base, among the oldest military airfields in Spain, and the main campus of the Charles III University of Madrid, and the weight here comes from institutions rather than from old streets.

What are the main landmarks in Getafe?

The Cerro de los Ángeles is the one people climb. The Monumento al Sagrado Corazón de Jesús del Cerro de los Ángeles stands on the hill traditionally taken as the geographical centre of the Iberian Peninsula, which is claim enough for any municipality. Down in the town, the cathedral of the Magdalene and the iglesia de los Padres Escolapios anchor the streets covered by the Zona Arqueológica Casco Urbano de Getafe.

Water works mark the edges. The Real Canal de Manzanares and the Terrazas del Manzanares record the river ground beyond the built-up area.

What is the history of Getafe?

The ground under Getafe is itself protected. The Zona Arqueológica Casco Urbano de Getafe covers the old town, so the streets people walk sit on the record of what stood there before, and the Terrazas del Manzanares carry that record out onto the river terraces beyond. Religion came next in the record.

The cathedral of the Magdalene and the iglesia de los Padres Escolapios mark the centuries when this was a parish and a school town rather than an industrial one. Then came the canal and the aeroplane. The Real Canal de Manzanares was cut to work the river ground, and the Getafe Air Base was later laid out on the flat, becoming one of the oldest military airfields in Spain and tying the town to aviation for good.

Industry came in the 20th century, when Getafe grew from a small agricultural town into an industrial city. Founded in 1989, the Charles III University of Madrid added a second institution of national scale. The Cerro de los Ángeles keeps its own meaning.

The Monumento al Sagrado Corazón de Jesús del Cerro de los Ángeles stands where tradition places the centre of the Iberian Peninsula.

Where is Getafe?

Getafe covers about 79 square kilometres just south of Madrid. Most of that is level ground on the side of the Manzanares, recorded in the protection over the Terrazas del Manzanares, with the cut of the Real Canal de Manzanares crossing it. One hill breaks the level.

The Cerro de los Ángeles rises inside the municipal limits, traditionally taken as the geographical centre of the Iberian Peninsula, and the monument to the Sagrado Corazón stands on its top.

What is the climate of Getafe?

Nothing coastal touches Getafe. The town lies inland on the ground of the Manzanares, where the temperate band delivers a full swing of seasons and the flat terraces hold heat that only the tight streets of the old core soften. The hill gives the one relief.

Open ground on the Cerro de los Ángeles catches whatever wind crosses it, which is worth knowing in the warm months.

How do you get to Getafe?

Getafe lies 13 km south of Madrid's city centre, on the railway between Madrid and Aranjuez that opened in 1851. That position governs every arrival, since the town belongs to the commuter geography of the Community of Madrid and the run out from the capital is short enough that Getafe reads as an outer district rather than a separate trip. The Getafe Air Base is no help.

It is a military field, among the oldest in Spain, so travellers come through the capital before crossing the last stretch to the cathedral of the Magdalene and the campus of the Charles III University of Madrid.