Pinto, Madrid

Pinto
Town Torre donde estuvo encerrada la Princesa de Éboli
Flag Coat of arms
Pinto
Coordinates: 40°15′N 3°42′W / 40.250°N 3.700°W / 40.250; -3.700Coordinates: 40°15′N 3°42′W / 40.250°N 3.700°W / 40.250; -3.700
Country	Spain
Autonomous community	Madrid
Province	Madrid
Comarca	Madrid metropolitan area
Government
• Mayor	Rafael Sánchez Romero
Area
• Total	62.7 km2 (24.2 sq mi)
Elevation	604 m (1,982 ft)
Population (2017)[1]
• Total	50,442
• Density	800/km2 (2,100/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Pinteños
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Website	www.ayto-pinto.es

Pinto is a municipality which became a town in the 1890s and is in the south of the autonomous community of Madrid, central Spain. It has a current population of roughly 51,000 inhabitants and lies on the C-3 Cercanías line connecting it to Aranjuez and Madrid Centre. Pinto also has a large park dedicated to the former King of Spain, Juan Carlos I.

Name[edit]

In the past it was thought that Pinto was situated in the geographical centre of the Iberian Peninsula; hence its name, which comes from the Latin punctum meaning 'point'. Today there is a monolith in the Egido (de la Fuente) park which recounts a legend and identifies Pinto as geographical center of the Iberian Peninsula.

History[edit]

Hypotheses of the origin of Pinto

Although the human settlements in what is now the municipal term of Pinto are lost in the night of the Times, it is unknown who were the founders of the settlements that gave rise to the village.

Hypothesis 1: One of the most well-founded ideas points to the Roman origin of the term "Punctum" as the origin of the name of the municipality, which by processes of development within language would have led to the current name, Pinto.

Hypothesis 2: This hypothesis situates the origin of the municipality as part of former Moorish territory and is related to a legend about these inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula: "The Legend of the Ark" and the naming of the "geographical center of the Iberian Peninsula". According to the old Arab legend (the tradition of which is recognised to this day), the Muslims carried out measurements that they situated in Pinto, in Egido park, at the junction of the streets of Hospital and Maestra Maria del Rosario (up to 1935 calle del Arca), the central point of the peninsula. In the aforementioned place, according to legend, the invaders would always bury the ''Ark'' (in which they deposited the instruments that they had used) under a circular stone marked with an X.

The Middles Ages

The town title was granted in 1359 by the King of Castile, Peter I, also known as Peter the Cruel.

Symbols[edit]

Pinto Coat of Arms

The coat of arms that represents the municipality was formally approved on 13 September 2007. The shield is blazons as follows:

¨Jaquelado de quince escaques, ocho de oro y siete de gules, cargado con la figura de un globo terráqueo de azur, con los continentes en oro y un punto de gules en el centro de la península ibérica. Al timbre corona real de España.¨

''Checkered with fifteen squares, eight of gold and seven of red, plated with a figure of a blue globe, with the continents in gold and a point of red in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula. Topped with the Spanish crown.''

Geography[edit]

Location

Pinto is situated in a typical typical landscape of the Castilian plateau, although it has been quite degraded by urban expansion and its proximity to the capital. Passing through the village is the 'Arroyo de los Prados', a stream which was channelled to go underground in 1967. Within the territory there are plains dedicated to the cultivation of dry land, in which in rainier years various wet areas appear as a result of rises in the 'Arroyo de los Prados'. The stream in fact is a tributary of the 'Arroyo Culebro', which runs through the village, the latter creating the border between the Pinto municipality and Getafe.

In the southwest of the town lies the last remaining wetland of the municipality, 'Los Estragales', in which up to 130 different types of birds have been identified.

Limits

• To the North: Getafe
• To the South: Torrejón de Velasco and Valdemoro
• To the East: San Martín de la Vega
• To the West: Parla and Fuenlabrada

Climate[edit]

Pinto Pinto has a continental Mediterranean climate with very hot summers that can reach up to 40 ºC and cold winters that can reach negative temperatures. Rainfall is scarce, picking up approximately 450 mm annually, with autumn and spring being the rainiest seasons. The snowfalls, which in the past were relatively abundant, now occur infrequently.

Demography

According to the 2017 census, the total population of Pinto had risen to 50,442 inhabitants, roughly 1000 more than 2015.^[2]

Politics and Government[edit]

Mayors

Municipal Politics after ''The Transition''[edit]

Pinto Town Hall

In 1979, with the arrival of democracy, the first elections were held where the mayorship was won by Carlos Penit who then headed the regional list of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE). The ex-councillor repeated this victory in the years 1983, 1987 and 1991. In 1993 Gloria Razábal was elected by the municipal council as the new mayor making her the first woman to ever become mayor in the history of Pinto. In 1995 the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) led by Antonio Fernández, won the new elections by a narrow margin of 25 votes. He repeated this victory in the years 1999 and 2003 ruling with an absolute majority. In 2005, pressured by accustations of corruption, he resigned and was substituted by Juan Tendero. Until the municipal elections of 2007, Pinto had been considered a left-wing town, but that year the conservative Popular Party (PP) put itself within 3 points of the governing PSOE. After managing to double its share of votes from 21% to 42% in the four years prior, PP was then able to go into coalition with 'Juntos por Pinto' (Together for Pinto - JpP) in order to govern with a stable majority and proclaim Miriam Rabaneda Mayor of Pinto.

Miriam Rabaneda, former Mayor of Pinto

The legislature was full of political tension. A councillor from Juntos por Pinto, Reyes Maestre, changed his mind with respect to a motor space project, supporting its construction. This provoked a crisis within the PP-JpP government. On December 22, 2008 a motion of censure was presented by PSOE/IU/JpP against the Popular Party and the PSOE member Juan José Martín Nieto was proclaimed as the new mayor, obtaining an absolute majority in the municipal council. The political tension in Pinto was constant. In February 2010, the former mayoress Miriam Rabaneda and her sister Tamara Rabaneda, former councillor of the Treasury, were charged for alleged malfeasance due to irregularities in the municipal accounts. The case was subsequently dismissed by a court in the town of Parla. In October 2010, Reyes Maestre was terminated as deputy mayor by the mayor of Pinto.

In the municipal elections on 22 May, 2011 the Popular Party won an absolute majority again and Miriam Rabaneda taking back the mayorship of the municipality from Juan José Martín Nieto. In addition, these elections led to the emergence of the party UPyD in Pinto which won two seats thus becoming a new political force represented in the City Council. The electorate punished Juntos por Pinto, then headed by Reyes Mastre, as well as the United Left party (IU) which gained no representation.

In the 2015 municipal elections, no party managed to obtain an absolute majority with UPyD even losing both of its seats. In these elections, the party 'Ganemos Pinto' (a coalition between several minor parties, including Podemos) gained 7 seats alongside PP which also gained 7, PSOE which gained 5, and Ciudadanos with 2. An alliance between Ganemos Pinto and PSOE granted Rafael Sánchez Romero the mayorship.

Main sights[edit]

• Ermita de San Antón ("Saint Anthony Abbot hermitage"). Its environment is now transformed by the construction of a mall. The hermitage had been rebuilt during the 19th century.
• Ermita del Cristo ("Christ hermitage") In its interior is a crucified Christ that enjoys great popular fervor.
• Iglesia parroquial de Santo Domingo de Silos ("Parish of Saint Dominic of Silos")
• Éboli tower, where the princess of Eboli was held.
• Centro Cultural Infanta Cristina. It was thought until recently that this building, then known as Casa de la Cadena (House of the Chain), provided accommodation for the Catholic Monarchs, but serious historical studies have disproved such a possibility.
• MUSEO DE HOPIADORES Its exterior is somewhat blue pink and red
• Centro Municipal de Cultura ("Local Culture Center")
• Francisco Rabal Town Theatre
• Regional park of the Southeast

Notable people[edit]

• Alberto Contador, cyclist
• Sandra Aguilar, Olympic medallist - rhythmic gymnastics

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pinto.

• Official website
• Pinto at the Instituto Nacional de Estadística

This article about a location in the Community of Madrid, Spain is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e