Madrid is located in the center of Spain. The best for transportation is through Spain's Metro. Madrid grew around the Alcazar which is a castle on a promontory. Madrid was originally called Majerit, the name first appeared in 932 A.D. There was an earthquake in 1466 and it damaged the Alcazar. While fixing the Alcazar, Madrid started to grow. The city was now about 500 by 900 yards. By 1598, Madrid's population was 60,000 people and in 1656 it had a population of 100,000 people with 11,000 buildings. In 1734, a disastrous fire on Christmas night destroyed the Alcazar. Philip V decided then to start building a Royal Place. The last king to live in the Royal Place was Alfonso XII in 1931. During the 1980's and '90's there was a major remolding program where they built tens of thousands of new houses. On March 11, 2004 Madrid suffered from many terrorist attacks that killed 191 people and injured about 1,800 people.
Sources: CIA Factbook