Alcala de Henares
AlcalÃÂá de Henares is a Spanish city. It is located in the autonomous community of Madrid, 30 km northeast of the city of Madrid. It has a population of around 200,000 people.The city is of Roman origins, known in Latin as Complutum. It is the only Roman town found in the Madrid region. It was refounded by the Moors in 1083, who built a castle or alcalá in a nearby hill, now known as AlcalÃÂá la Vieja. The Christians conquerors preferred the Burgo de Santiuste ("Saint Just's borough") on the Roman location. It was ceded to the Bishopric of Toledo, Spain. The city's present name literally means "castle on the [river] Henares". During the Christian rule, the city sported a Jewish and a Moorish quarter. In 148?, Christopher Columbus had a first meeting with the Reyes CatÃÂólicos. In 1496, Cardinal Cisneros founded the Universidad Complutense, which became famous as a centre of learning during the Renaissance. It was moved to Madrid in 1836 (under the name Universidad Central de Madrid). A new university was founded in the old buildings as the Universidad de AlcalÃÂá de Henares in 1977. During the Spanish Civil War, the city was badly damaged.
The author Miguel de Cervantes was born in Alcalá de Henares, as were Ferdinand I of Aragon and Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII of England. Other notable figures associated with the city include the theologian Gabriel Vazquez, the mystic John of the Cross, the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I, and President Manuel Manuel AzaÃÂña, the last president of the Second Spanish Republic.
Alcalá's excellent transport links with Madrid have led to it becoming a commuter town, with many of its inhabitants travelling to work in the capital. It was affected particularly badly by the March 11, 2004 terrorist attacks in Madrid as the bombed trains all originated at or passed through Alcalá.
A big part of the new population are immigrants from East Europe.