This viral thread explaining why Madrid is the capital of Spain is an unexpectedly riveting read
There’s no doubting that Twitter/X is becoming more unpleasant ever since it was taken over by a narcissistic billionaire who increasingly uses it to push his far-right agenda. However, there’s still plenty of enjoyable wit and snark on the platform to make it worthwhile.
There are also occasional threads which are informative and exceptionally well written, that make you see the world in new ways.
Here’s such an example, by writer Tomas Pueyo. It explains why Madrid is the capital of Spain, which is something we’d never even thought to consider before. Trust us when we say that, for those with curious minds, it’s a truly riveting read and you’ll learn a lot along the way.
Let’s get stuck in…
1.
Why is Madrid the capital of Spain?
Madrid is quite unique:
• No river
• Very recent
• Tiny when it became a capital
So why? pic.twitter.com/RGyOQJqTWL— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) January 31, 2024
2.
These are the rivers of other big European cities & capitals: huge and calm. Why?
Because rivers allowed:
• Drinking
• Irrigation ➡️ food ➡️ population
• Trade: Transport is much cheaper than on roads, so much more trade and wealth pic.twitter.com/mdyZAdYx4n— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) January 31, 2024
3.
You can see the importance of rivers by the population density in France: it follows the course of rivers! You can tell the confluence of big rivers because they host the biggest population centers—natural markets to trade across the meeting rivers pic.twitter.com/PXvcY58JIT
— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) January 31, 2024
4.
Compare with Madrid's main river
Do you know its name? No, because it's puny
It's weak. An affront on capital rivers. A feeble streamLow bridges. Full of sandbars. Why? No point in clearing them. The only thing that navigates the Manzanares is its inferiority complex pic.twitter.com/ZdZoTJkfwO
— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) January 31, 2024
5.
If Madrid had been blessed with a huge river, it would have been a huge city in ancient times. But no. In fact, it's a very recent city
Compare its founding with that of other capitals of countries occupied by the Romans. Most are 2k+ y old. Madrid? Barely 1k y old pic.twitter.com/nPA2xc8y9k
— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) January 31, 2024
6.
When it was selected as capital, it wasn't the 1st, or the 2nd, or even the 3rd biggest city in Spain. It was the 10th! Barely over 10k people. A small town!
Back then, most capitals were the biggest, most powerful, best placed city. Why not in Spain? pic.twitter.com/VpbR4FCS5T
— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) January 31, 2024
7.
Blame this guy
Philip II of Spain—who also gave name to the Philippines. Until the 1560s, Spain had an itinerant court. He wanted to fix it in a city. Where? pic.twitter.com/4qxTS7LO85— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) January 31, 2024
8.
He had to deal with 2 realities. One was his empire: He needed a capital that was close enough to everything. That was Spain, which was also among the richest parts of his empire. pic.twitter.com/aAH7Z7K459
— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) January 31, 2024
9.
So he wanted a capital in Spain
This is Spain
What do you notice?It's criss-crossed with mountain ranges. This has serious consequences pic.twitter.com/GiSPNglIJp
— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) January 31, 2024
10.
• Spain has a lot of rivers separated from each other by these mountain ranges. This means they're smaller than its Northern Europe equivalents
• Because they go through all these mountains, they aren't navigable*. They couldn't be used much for tradeSo no big central city pic.twitter.com/P9wNXVqOMf
— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) January 31, 2024
11.
It also means there are few plains. The few on the coast all developed big populations since Roman times. Barcelona, Valencia, Huelva, Cadiz… All predate the Roman!
This means Spain was (and is) made of islands of coastal population separated by mountains pic.twitter.com/6RlFr63Iw0
— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) January 31, 2024
12.
Another thing to notice: It's surrounded by coasts, but each coast had its own pbms:
• Mediterranean: Deal with the colonies in Italy / Greece and fend off Muslim attacks
• Southwest: Deal with Spain's American colonies
• North: Deal with British attacks & Flemish colonies pic.twitter.com/vk4TOMs3rk— Tomas Pueyo (@tomaspueyo) January 31, 2024
