Leganés and Bethlehem

2010-05-10 16:00:00

 

Leganés

 

Country: Spain

Date of Agreement: 19 April 2006

Current Mayor: Rafael Gómez Montoya

Website: https://www.leganes.org/

 

Leganés is a city in central Spain. Part of the greater Madrid conurbation - mainly a satellite-city with a population of 184,481 (1 January 2005) it is located about 10 km southwest of the city centre.

On 3 April 2004 Leganés achieved a measure of unwanted notoriety when five of the suspects in the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks blew themselves up in an apartment building as police moved in to arrest them. All five were killed, along with one GEO police officer.

Leganés houses a branch of the Universidad Carlos III, founded in 1989, namely the Escuela Politecnica Superior (EPS) which offers Telecommunications Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Computer Engineering, among many other degrees. Universidad Carlos III is recognized as first-class in research and teaching among other universities in Spain. The other campuses of University Carlos III are situated in Getafe and Colmenarejo, however the one located in Leganés is the only one that has a sports centre. Leganés' student accommodation building is called Fernando Abril Martorell and has a capacity of 300 students.

It is connected to Madrid via the Cercanías (Train, line C5), and Metrosur, one of the lines of Metro. Leganés has 6 Metrosur's stations.

Parquesur, in Leganés, built in the early 90's is currently one of the biggest shopping centers in Europe. It was completely refurbished and extended in 2005.

Leganés has a street named AC/DC in honor to the famous Australian rock band. The band visited Leganés in order to inaugurate the street. The street sign was frequently stolen until the council decided to paint it on the wall instead of replacing the sign over and over again. Nowadays, the sign can be bought at many local shops as a souvenir

 

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