San Fernando de Henares

The land around San Fernando de Henares has been occupied since prehistoric times. Palaeolithic and Neolithic finds include a quartzite axe, hut foundations, and stone mills. Chalcolithic and Bell Beaker materials from the site known as Camino de Yeseras are now held at the Regional Archaeological Museum in Alcalá de Henares. The earliest traces of the Roman period are fragments of purple-glazed ceramics, which may reflect the town's position within the territory of Complutum — the Roman settlement that became Alcalá de Henares. Later Roman remains include villa sites at the confluence of the Henares and Jarama rivers, along with a funerary inscription. Evidence of Visigothic presence is almost entirely absent; only what may have been a rubbish deposit, some ceramics, and grain storage were documented. Arab presence, by contrast, is confirmed: the place names of the woodland area and the Castillo de Aldovea are Arabic in origin, and dry-farming lands from that period have been identified.

During the Reconquista the territory passed to the Kingdom of Castile, was taken by the Almoravids in 1109, and returned to Castile in 1118, after which it fell within the jurisdiction of the town and lands of Alcalá de Henares. The settlement of Torrejón de la Ribera was founded in 1481, its name possibly derived from a watchtower built during the Reconquista. The site later passed to the Count of Barajas. By the 18th century it was a small, unhealthy hamlet of around fifty to sixty people.

The town's transformation came through Bourbon economic reform. In 1746 Philip V issued a royal decree to purchase Torrejón de la Ribera and establish a royal fine-cloth manufactory, reducing Spain's dependence on foreign textile imports. His successor Ferdinand VI took possession on 30 August and appointed Teodoro Ventura de Argumosa — a Knight of the Order of Santiago and expert in modern European textile production — as governor. The designer of the new planned settlement remains unknown, though its resemblance to other industrial towns of the period suggests involvement by the Royal Corps of Military Engineers, who were also responsible for the Royal Tobacco Factory in Seville and the Royal Cloth Factory in Guadalajara.

The historic core of San Fernando de Henares was declared a protected artistic and historic ensemble by royal decree in 1983. It centres on two plazas and the remains of the royal manufactory, and retains the original 18th-century street plan of the settlement.

Plaza de España is the main square and has always been the town's civic heart. Facing it stands the façade of the Real Fábrica de Paños, restored and incorporated into the new town hall in 1999. The workers' houses that originally lined the square were reconstructed and rehabilitated in 2012, maintaining their original appearance.

The circular Plaza de Fernando VI is the geometric centre of the town, from which eight streets radiate outward. A statue of King Ferdinand VI — the monarch who drove the factory's foundation — stands at its centre. The statue was moved here from the Royal Palace in Madrid in 1844, during the reign of Isabella II. Together, the two plazas and their surrounding streets represent the Enlightenment urban planning ideas of the first half of the 18th century.

A series of tree-lined promenades — including the Paseo de los Chopos and the Paseo de los Plátanos — once connected the town to the fertile market gardens irrigated by the River Jarama. The original irrigation infrastructure of the Real Sitio survives in parts, including channels, sluices, bridges, and gates known as the Puerta del Rey and Puerta de la Reina. The garden area, known as the Huerta Grande, has been compared in character to those of Aranjuez, a royal town of similar date. These promenades and gardens lie within the Southeast Regional Park, which covers 29 of the municipality's 39 square kilometres.

To the east of the town, near Parque Europa and bordering Torrejón de Ardoz, stands the Castillo-Palacio de Aldovea. Originally a medieval castle, it was converted into a palace during the 16th century. The rectangular building has four corner towers, three floors separated by continuous string courses, and a cornice supported by modillions. The exterior is exposed brick with stone used for the plinth, mouldings, and corner reinforcements. The main façade features a doorway flanked by banded columns, topped by a broken pediment bearing the coat of arms of Spain and a royal crown, with a sculptural group of angels around it.