Manzanares (river)

Manzanares
River
Manzanares river passing through Madrid
Country	Spain
Source	Sierra de Guadarrama
- elevation	2,010 m (6,594 ft)
Mouth	Jarama river
- elevation	533 m (1,749 ft)
Length	92 km (57 mi)
Discharge
- average	10–15 m3/s (353–530 cu ft/s)
Map of Manzanares river.

The Manzanares (Spanish pronunciation: [manθaˈnaɾes]) is a river in central Spain, which flows from the Sierra de Guadarrama, passes through Madrid, and eventually empties into the Jarama river, which in turn is a tributary to the Tagus.

In its urban section, the Manzanares River as it appears today, with a section of water several meters deep, in some parts navigable by canoes, is the result and the product of the work of dozens of years of channeling and damming.

The river Manzanares has its source near the Navacerrada mountain pass in the Guadarrama mountain range. The upper river basin is protected as the Parque Regional de la Cuenca Alta del Manzanares, a nature reserve which is recognised as a biosphere reserve by UNESCO. The Manzanares flows in a south-eastern direction from its source, and passes through the medieval town of Manzanares el Real where it is dammed to form the Santillana reservoir, one of the most important water supplies for the capital. The river then takes a southern direction and enters the Monte del Pardo, an ecologically valuable area on the edge of Madrid. The river is canalised where it passes through the built-up areas of the city. As at 2009 a project is in progress to provide river beaches and other facilities for Madrid residents. The Manzanares skims past the westernmost part of the city and further downstream serves as a dividing line between the old centre of the city and the Carabanchel and Usera neighbourhoods to the southwest. It is along this stretch that it passes next to Atlético Madrid's football ground, the Vicente Calderón. The river leaves the city at its southernmost tip. It makes a strong eastern turn which takes it past the village of Perales del Río and towards the river Jarama, into which it flows near the dormitory town of Arganda del Rey, ending its 83 km (52 mi) journey.