Hi! Have you been to Madrid the capital of Spain? 
Actually I have!  It was a good 30 years ago, though.  I can't say I recall it clearly.
30 years ago? Your travel history truly dates back,  The city has  almost 3.166 million inhabitant
I recall that it seemed much more metropolitan than the other cities in Spain where I visited.  Back then, it reminded me of New York City, but with fewer lights.
More so, the city lies on the River Manzanares in the centre of both the country and the Community of Madrid .
See, I don't even recall all that.  I guess the river was a draw to create the city.
Siege of Madrid
The Siege of Madrid was a two and a half year siege of the Spanish capital city of Madrid, during the Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939. The city, besieged from October 1936, eventually fell to the Francoist armies on 28 March 1939. Madrid was held by various forces loyal to the Spanish Republic and was besieged and subject to aerial bombardment by the rebel faction under General Francisco Franco. The Battle of Madrid in November 1936 saw the most intense fighting in and around the city when the
the book's opening has the narrator expressing an outlook that is typical to Murnane's writing:Twenty years ago, when I first arrived on the plains, I kept my eyes open. I looked for anything in the landscape that seemed to hint at some elaborate meaning behind appearances.My journey to the plains was much less arduous than I afterwards described it. And I cannot even say that at a certain hour I knew I had left Australia. But I recall clearly a succession of days when the flat land around