In fact, in September 2016 was found the settlement of Canto Los Hierros in a nearby mountain located south of town, just at 1,700 metres above sea level.

[4] Before the arriving of the Romans, the area known today as the municipality of El Espinar probably was in the very eastern limit of the vettones territory.

[10] Because of that reason, nowadays the area is famous for the several bunkers and becoming a popular destination for people who like to follow the traces of war.

Living there as remote online workers and moving only one day per week to Madrid city centre is also a growing fast trend.

It's embedded by the mountains of the Sistema Central by the north, the east and the south, and only the west and the northwest are partially open to the lower lands of the high northern plateau.

From the top of the mountains located at the eastern limit of the local territory, the high southern plateau, the skyline of Madrid and most of its western metropolitan area are easily seen during clear days.

All the other peaks in the local territory are below 2,000 m, such as Cueva Valiente (1,904 m) and Cabeza Líjar (1,824 m) in the south, La Peñota (1,945 m) in the east and Caloco (1,567 m) in the west.

[14][15] The river Moros runs from its source at the western slope of Montón de Trigo mountain heading southwest.

[16] The river Gudillos, which is the main tributary of the Moros within the local territory, has its headwaters near El Baldío area, not far from the western foothill of La Peñota mountain.

However, two small brooks run through its built-up area, just El Boquerón one from the southwest and Prado Goyato one from the southeast.

There are some beautiful human-made natural swimming pools in the wild named as La Panera, just by the Moros river in the middle of the pine forest.

[25] El Espinar has a mediterranean climate with strong continental influence because of its location in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, and it is also modified by its high altitude.

There are not weather stations in the top of the nearby mountains, but a Dsb climate, just a colder version with dry summers as well, should be expected up there above 1,900 metres as temperature decreases with altitude.

The reason for that is the Sistema Central mountain range that creates some rain shadow in the upper Moros valley, and therefore in almost the entire territory of the municipality.

The southern and the eastern mountains are peculiarly wooded mainly by Pinus sylvestris, but there is also a small cluster pine forest located by the secondary road between San Rafael and La Estación.

The mountains above 1,900 metres are wooded by shrubland as winter there is harsh and long, whereas summer is short and dry, which prevents almost any type of big trees.

On the other hand, below 1,200 metres, there are some gallery forests, mainly by silver popla and ash, that follow the several streams that irrigate the whole area.

Wildlife is represented by many animals, such as roe deer, wild boar, badger, weasel, fox, Spanish imperial eagle, Eurasian black vulture and Graellsia isabellae.

Some nomadic Iberian wolf small groups have been seen in recent years, especially in the western meadows of Campo Azálvaro, but they don't approach the population centres as they avoid humans.

[33] There is a facility and visitor centre to spot scavenger birds located besides the SG-500 secondary road heading west towards Campo Azálvaro.

[34][35] The municipality is also famous for tourism focused on collect edible mushrooms, but the local law stated that anyone interested in it must pay for a permit fee.

The local council is served by the normal railway between Madrid and Segovia via Collado Villalba, not by the high speed one.

[42][43] However, the railway works "de facto" as any other commuter railway of nearby Madrid region because the operating trains and the technical are the same, but as the Segovia - Collado Villalba stretch make a lot of turns because the topography of the mountains, it's not a fast way to go by train from El Espinar to Madrid city centre.

[46] Being inside Moncloa interchange hub for someone who need to travel to El Espinar, it is required first to go to the food court area and find the Avanza stand, then to purchase the tickets either on-site or by the ticket machines, and then move to the big room designed in Spanish as "isla 1" with light blue colour and finally go to the docks number eight and nine.

During 2024, just 19,791 foreign tourists visited the municipality of El Espinar, mainly from France, The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, United Kingdom, Italy and Portugal.

There are two lovely urban parks named Parque Cipriano Geromini and El Pinarillo that are perfect for enjoy summertime shade because of the great trees.

In fact, the urban alpine vibe, the nature scenery and the climate are the reason that the settlement of San Rafael is often known as "The Spanish Switzerland".

[64] Over the years, the district expanded with some real state developments made by residential flat buildings with four floors, but still the most common type of houses are individual and semi-detached ones.

Every of the four population centres has some venues and festivities: The most notable are the Felinar charity for stray cats, the Yedra women's rights, the Interampas parent-student and the Hesperides citizen science-based associations.

[73][74][75][76] The territory of the local council of El Espinar has been used frequently as a filming location since 1960 and the reason is that there is a great nature scenery that is fairly close to Madrid metropolitan area.