Hi! Have you been to Madrid the capital of Spain? 
Actually I have!  It was a good 30 years ago, though.  I can't say I recall it clearly.
30 years ago? Your travel history truly dates back,  The city has  almost 3.166 million inhabitant
I recall that it seemed much more metropolitan than the other cities in Spain where I visited.  Back then, it reminded me of New York City, but with fewer lights.
More so, the city lies on the River Manzanares in the centre of both the country and the Community of Madrid .
See, I don't even recall all that.  I guess the river was a draw to create the city.
History holds that the city fell to the Francoist armies on 28 March 1939.a civil war period
So I wonder how Spain got the city back.
Still on history, in1516, Habsburg Spain unified a number of disparate predecessor kingdoms;the current democratic constitution dates to 1978.