The madrid question?

Travel Info
why its not on the coast,did it have a good water source,minerals or what?

Travel Tips

Good question. It's in the centre of Spain! " Madrid is strategically located at the geographical centre of the Iberian peninsular, 646 metres above sea level."
http://www.spain.info/tourspain/destinos...

"The Madrid area has been settled since the Lower Paleolithic age, but it was not until 1561 that King Philip II made it the capital of his mighty empire."
http://www.spain.info/tourspain/destinos...

I found this on its very early history:

"In the Inferior Paleolithic Era (400,000 years ago) indigenous people were already in Madrid. In a zone surrounded by extensive rivers (today Manzanares, Henares and Jarama) that allowed for abundant fishing and surrounded by extensive zones of rich vegetation in which reindeer, horses, bulls and elephants hid, (some of up to five meters tall) these ancestors made practical utensils for their daily tasks."
http://www.webmadrid.com/guia/historia/e...

More here:
http://www.munimadrid.es/principal/ingle... (This a good site, in sections. about Madrid's history.)

I read somewhere that Spain had great forests, but they cut them down to build the Armada.

Others
huh???????????????
Although the site of modern-day Madrid has been occupied since prehistoric times, in Roman age his territory belonged to the diocese of Complutum (present Alcal谩 de Henares). But the first historical data on the city comes from the 9th century, when Mehmed I ordered the construction of a small palace in the same place that is today occupied by the Palacio Real. Around this palace a small citadel, al-Mudaina, was built. Near that palace was the Manzanares, which the Muslims called al-Majr墨峁?(Arabic: 丕賱賲噩乇賷胤, "source of water"). From this came the naming of the site as Majerit, which was later rendered to the modern-day spelling of Madrid). The citadel was conquered in 1085 by Alfonso VI of Castile in his advance towards Toledo. He reconsecrated the mosque as the church of the Virgin of Almudena (almudin, the garrison's granary). In 1329, the Cortes Generales first assembled in the city to advise Ferdinand IV of Castile. Sephardi Jews and Moors continued to live in the city until they were expelled at the end of the 15th century.

After troubles and a large fire, Henry III of Castile (1379-1406) rebuilt the city and established himself safely fortified outside its walls in El Pardo. The grand entry of Ferdinand and Isabella to Madrid heralded the end of strife between Castile and Aragon
Surely a question about Madrid should not be posted in the Aberdeen section, should it?
Spaniards are to lazy to walk and because they had no cars years ago they decided to leave it centrally