The Coolidge examiner., 1931-05-22
(Prepared by the National Geographic
Society. Washington. ID. c.


~ EPUBLICAN Spain, latest
among ancient monarchies to
cast off royal traditions, can
best be visualized through its lead
ing cities. For ii was the Spanish
urban dweller, not the peasant of
the countryside, who kept alive the
long fight for political reform.
First in importance comes Mad
rid, the capital. 1t is strikingly
upsets the geography students
mental picture of typical Spanish
city; for Madrid's city planners
long ago gouged broad. straight
streets where narrow, tOrtuous by
ways once ran and low red-rOofed
houses whose caves nearly met
overhead. have given way to mod
ern structures.
Now and then an ox-cart from
the rural district rumbles toward
the market place; dark-eyed seno-
ritas in mantillas and brilliant
cOlored shawls venture in the
streets beside capped swains with
dN
fights still are popular pastimes {;
but Madrid for the most part is a
bit of Paris, London and New York
set down on a Spanish plain within
seyeshot of medieval castles and
within a hundred miles of Toledo
and other more typically Spanish
cities and towns.
Subway trains roar over a net
work of tracks beneath Madrid's
streets, cruising taxicabs are at the
visitors beck and call, huge motor
buSSeS may be hailed to take him
to a neighboring city over paved
roads, and modern cars of more
than fifty tram lines, with mail
boxes attached, course the city
streets.
Cables that carry the human
voice and the tick of the telegraph
key to all the capitals of Europe
have recently been placed under
ground. An underground sewage
system, and an underground water
supply system carrying sufficient
water to enable street cleaners to
wash down the streets several
times a day, assure public health.
Shop windows like those of Fifth
avenue display the latest fashions
from London and Paris, radios and
electrical equipment from Ameri-
can factories. Bobbed-hair shop
pers trip from Detroit-made auto
mobiles.
The National Sport.
When the bullfght is on, large
part of Madrid's sporting pOpula-
tion still flows toward the ring or
toward the newspaper bulletin
boards for minute by minute re-
ports, just as Americans gather
about our newspaper offices watch
ing play by play worlds series
game recorded on an electrical
baseball diamond. However, the
movie" with the names of Holly
woods celebrities emblazoned in
electric lights and on gaudy posters
also enjoys the popularity of
amusement seekers.
Numerous parks and Fairgrounds
have been laid out, new subdivi-
sions have risen above the sur
rounding plains. and the city IA
theirs are busy tearing down the
old and building the new. But with
all the changes, the Puerto del Sol,
the co-called hub of the city, re-
mains the center of everything"
that it was century ago.
tr-ffh hn ri fnIi
stocky Basques from the Pyrenean
country, ruddy-skinned gypsies,
olive complexioned individuals
from the south, a sprinkling of
Frenchmen, Englishmen, Italians,
and a few representatives from
nearly all other European coun-
tries and America.
One of the spokes of the hub
leads to the S15,000,000 royal pal
ace. The palace yard has long
been a public park and playground
where throngs of men and women
strolled on royal walks. and chill
dren played games.
Madrid's Oldest pages of history
are newer than those of it's Span
ISL uelShDOIS. ulllp II CHOSS IL DIS
the Spanish capital in 1860 when
he sought to satisfy the various
races of Spain. Sargossa was Ara
gonese, Burgos was Castilian, To-
ledo was Visigothic, and Cordova
and Seville were Moorish. From
a city of about 10000 inhabitants,
it has steadily grown until it now
is almost as large as Cleveland,
Ohio.
Madrid is the geographic center
of Spain, and in the same manner
that all the main avenues of Wash
ingtOn radiate from the Capitol
building, so in Spain do all the
principal railways radiate from
Madrid to the chief cities on the
coast 1t is always a nights ride