It has been our desire from day one to be used of God to start churches in Spain. By the grace of God we have been able to help start two churches already in the Community of Madrid (Spain has 17 Autonomous Communities). Within Spain, the most important and largest city is Madrid (It is in fact the capital city of Spain). Madrid is almost right in the very center of the country. As you can see, for these reasons and more, we consider Madrid key to reaching the entire country with the gospel.
That is why I would like to start a series of posts highlighting the different cities within the Community of Madrid and the districts within the city proper so that you can be better informed of the need and help us pray so that we can see several new churches planted in this beautiful city that desperately needs the gospel. In this post, I would like to give you some general information about Madrid.
What many people don’t realize is that Madrid is an Autonomous Community and a city. That’s why you have to be specific when you say something about Madrid. When I hear someone talking about Madrid, I usually think, “Are they talking about the Autonomous Community or the city?” It would be as if Georgia, for example, were the name of the state and the name of the capital city.
Almost 100% of the population of the Autonomous Community of Madrid is made up of those living in the Metropolitan area of the city of Madrid. The actual city of Madrid has a population of about 3.2 million according to the most recent census, and the metro area has a population of 6.3 million. There are 179 municipalities (cities and towns) in the Community of Madrid. Here is a list of the ten largest according to population:
| Rank | Municipality | Population | Area km² |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Madrid | 3,233,527 | 605.8 |
| 2 | Móstoles | 206,031 | 45 |
| 3 | Alcalá de Henares | 203,924 | 88 |
| 4 | Fuenlabrada | 198,132 | 39.1 |
| 5 | Leganés | 187,125 | 43.1 |
| 6 | Getafe | 171,280 | 78.74 |
| 7 | Alcorcón | 169,308 | 33.7 |
| 8 | Torrejón de Ardoz | 125,331 | 32.6 |
| 9 | Parla | 124,208 | 24.43 |
| 10 | Alcobendas | 111,040 | 45 |
We have already started a church in one of these cities (Parla) and the other church is in the city of Colmenar Viejo, which is ranked 21 and has a population of almost 50,000.
In the next posts, I will give you more details about each of the major cities of the Community of Madrid, as well as the different districts within the actual city of Madrid. I will also give you information about the amount of gospel-preaching churches that there are in each of the areas. As I share information every week, please pray that the Lord would raise up laborers and that the Lord would use us in any way He pleases in helping plant more gospel-centered churches in Madrid and throughout Spain.
