This viral thread explaining why Madrid is the capital of Spain is an unexpectedly riveting read
13.
Then there are the 2 central plateaux ("mesetas") and the Ebro Valley.
The king had to find a place that connected them all as best as possible.
I mentioned before the king had an itinerant court until then. This was the reason: Too many disconnected power centers pic.twitter.com/JILnRJaDhM
— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) January 31, 2024
14.
So what was the best connected place in the country at the time?
The red areas in the map below. Noticve they include Madrid and Toledo—which was one of the biggest and most powerful cities at the time.
So why not Toledo as a capital? pic.twitter.com/mW0Lg7G1LM
— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) January 31, 2024
15.
This is Toledo. Majestic, on a hill surrounded by the Tajo river
But:
• Streets are small, which is not ideal for travel with your court—and your personal guard
• You can’t grow the city much further
• You can’t determine its urbanism pic.twitter.com/rlzdOwWcWw— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) January 31, 2024
16.
And Philip II wanted to build. He had visited his Italian and Flemish possessions and wanted to bring its architecture. This is why he built the Escorial Palace
He wanted to do the same with his new capital pic.twitter.com/5gmYZD9oKK
— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) January 31, 2024
17.
Madrid had another benefit: It had a power void.
Toledo and Valladolid had noble and religious leaders who could challenge the king
Not Madrid, which was smaller and had recently lost many nobles due to a failed revolt.
The king had confiscated their lands in Madrid pic.twitter.com/xKK4thBzSv
— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) January 31, 2024
18.
Madrid had other small benefits:
• Built on a defensible position
• Reliable water from the mountain range
• Air from the mountains (back then, they thought they were the cure against recurring epidemics)
• Forests for huntingSo Philip II chose Madrid in 1561
— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) January 31, 2024
19.
Once capital, the entire communications network had to be rewired to make Madrid more central. That was the point of the capital after all—allow easy access to all the territory.
Notice how so many Roman road paths have been conserved, but the central part is completely new pic.twitter.com/jrJkXQqxXK
— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) January 31, 2024
20.
This happened over the centuries
More recently, we can see the roads plan of 1926, the highways plan of 1985, the current railroads… Most cross in Madrid pic.twitter.com/SsW6ZIf1D4— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) January 31, 2024
21.
The goal of Madrid's airport was to do the same connecting Spain with the world. It's now the 5th busiest airport in Europe pic.twitter.com/BwKI9K510J
— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) January 31, 2024
22.
So Madrid is unique, because its geography had very little to offer—except it was central
But that centrality made it a capital
That centrality gave it infrastructure
That infrastructure made it the most connected place in Spain, hence the biggest market, hence the biggest city pic.twitter.com/c6rJ715smv— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) January 31, 2024
You learn something new everyday. Others were grateful for the lesson.
I much enjoyed this educational thread and realized this is why I have an X account.
Thank you Sir.— Michael Ӿ (@_Miquelito) February 1, 2024
Wonderful thread. Thanks.
— IEndres (@IsaEndres1) January 31, 2024
A good question, and an even better (and fascinating) answer. Top stuff Tomas. https://t.co/6T0tRuwhlH
— Andy FitzGerald (@AndyFitzG) January 31, 2024
To sum up …
One of the things twitter is good for is a thread like this, I knew the fact but never knew why… https://t.co/LKXm0UhX9Z
— James Mylet (@JamesMylet) January 31, 2024
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Source Tomas Pueyo Image Pixabay,