Which capital of Spain stands on the Manzanares River?

Which capital of Spain stands on the Manzanares River? Madrid does.

The Manzanares flows through the Spanish capital before joining the Jarama River, which is itself a tributary of the Tagus. Although geographically modest, the river has shaped Madrid’s history and landscape. The city began as a Muslim fortress in the ninth century, built beside the river as part of the defensive network around the Iberian interior.

The river is about 92 kilometres long and rises in the Sierra de Guadarrama. Within Madrid, it was heavily channelled and regulated, but later restoration projects improved its ecological and recreational character. The Madrid Río park was created after the M-30 ring road was placed underground in the 2000s.

A common mix-up is assuming Madrid sits on the much larger Tagus. It does not: the Manzanares reaches the Tagus indirectly through the Jarama. The river is also associated with the Spanish Civil War, when parts of its course served as a defensive line during the Siege of Madrid.