Navalcarnero

By the late 15th century, Segovia had lost substantial territory when the Catholic Monarchs handed large tracts — including the Sexmo de Valdemoro and parts of the Sexmo de Casarrubios — to the Marquesses of Moya. The city spent years trying to recover what it had lost. Meanwhile, its common lands stretching from Brunete to Casarrubios were being quietly occupied by the vassals of the Marquesses and by Gonzalo Chacón, lord of Casarrubios.

To reassert its jurisdiction and stop the encroachment, Segovia decided in late 1499 to found a new settlement at the centre of the disputed zone. The seed population was six residents of Perales who already farmed the area. On 19 September 1499, Segovia secured a royal provision ordering the establishment of the town's first council. On 10 October 1499, Segovia's representative Hernán Pérez gathered five of the six Perales residents — the sixth was absent — and the first council of Navalcarnero was elected: two mayors and a constable. The six settlers, who did not yet own houses there, became the town's founding citizens. The council could rule on matters up to sixty maravedís; anything above that had to go to Segovia for judgment.

The earliest houses went up in the Barrio de los Castines, built by transhumant shepherds from Villacastín. Opposition was immediate and violent. Gonzalo Chacón resisted the new town by force, claiming it sat within his lands, and a legal dispute followed that lasted 112 years, finally resolved in 1617 when Navalcarnero's common lands were restored and its boundary markers fixed. A separate lawsuit against the Marquesses of Moya over the Marimartín pasture ran for 93 years, from the founding until 1592. During this period the town was burned four times and attacked by armed force on several other occasions; Segovia defended it each time.

In around 1521 Navalcarnero joined the Comunero uprising in defence of municipal rights, represented by councillor Alonso de Arreo. The town remained under Segovia's jurisdiction from 1499 until 1627.

The town's architectural landmarks include the church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción and the church of Covadonga. The Casa de la Cadena survives only as a doorway, while the Casa de la Lonja still stands. Beneath the Plaza de Segovia lies a network of excavated tunnels known as the Cuevas del Concejo.

Other monuments include the Jardín de Cristal, a sculptural installation by Dennis Oppenheim, a monument to Felipe IV, and a monument to the Encierros.

Navalcarnero falls within transport zone B3 of the Madrid Regional Transport Consortium. From Madrid, buses leave from the Príncipe Pío interchange: line 528 runs direct to Navalcarnero, while lines 539, 541, 545, 546, 547, and 548 pass through or serve nearby destinations. From Móstoles, lines 529 and 531 both run to Navalcarnero, departing from stops along Avenida de Portugal near Móstoles-Central railway station.

From Alcorcón, line 535 starts at Alcorcón-Central station. By road, the town is accessible via the A-5 motorway, the R-5 toll road, and regional road M-600.