Location
This town has the largest population of any in the region, after the capital (about 200,000 inhabitants). It is situated south of Madrid, 18km along the motorway to Extremadura (A5), to be specific. Móstoles has excellent transport connections with the capital, with a large bus network, local trains, and more recently the Metro (line 12, MetroSur, runs through the town). It is not surprising that the town forms part of the metropolitan area of the city of Madrid.
Useful Facts
Although its origins and the meaning of its name are unclear, we know that it was a town in its own right as from 1565, when it stopped being a village belonging to the city of Toledo, by means of a charter granted by Felipe II. Today, due to its geographical and socioeconomic situation, Mostoles is of well-known importance within the Madrid autonomous region; it is considered to be the capital of the area called the 'Great South ' of Madrid, which boasts over one million inhabitants and consists of the area bounded by the towns of Navalcarnero, Alcorcón, Fuentidueña de Tajo and Aranjuez.
What to See
In the urban district, which houses the majority of the population, together with some of the housing developments on the outskirts, there are some sites of interest. In the plaza de Ernesto Peces, for example, stands the town's oldest building, the church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción; it is built on the site of a C9th Byzantine mosque, although the oldest parts remaining today are the apse, which is 'mudéjar'(built by Muslims living under Christian rule) and clearly of Toledan style, with traces of late Romanesque from the C13th, a tower which is also mudéjar', and a C15th doorway. Also in the town centre is the hermitage of Nuestra Señora de los Santos, built in honour of the town's patron saint at the beginning of the C17th, at the birthplace of the blessed Simón de Rojas. Points of interest include an C18th Baroque altarpiece, C19th sculptures and some very valuable paintings of St. Ana and St. Joaquín.
In addition, visitors should not miss the spacious plaza del Pradillo in the heart of town; here there is a monument to the Mayor of Móstoles, inaugurated by King Alfonso XIII in 1908 in honour of Andrés Torrejón García, who led the uprising against the French by the people of Móstoles, the first in all Spain to do so, in that famous year of 1808. In addition, the street where the former Mayor lived bears his name, and the local council has turned his house into a museum of the town's history.
The plaza del Pradillo also contains the fountain of los Peces, dating from 1852, whose two newts spouting water cool and enliven the town centre. Another large fountain to enjoy is the recently constructed fountain of la Constitución, in the square of the same name, between the calle Mayor and the calle Echegaray. Huge, it consists of two circular concentric pools, with water displays and a waterfall.
