Jarama (Spanish pronunciation: [xaˈɾama]) is a river in central Spain.

It flows north to south[citation needed] and passes east of Madrid[1] where the El Atazar Dam is built on a tributary, the Lozoya River.

Nationalist forces crossed the river in an attempt to cut the main road from Madrid to the Republican capital at Valencia.

[1] The song Jarama Valley, with lyrics referencing the battle, became popular among the Republican battalions.

El Jarama is a 1955 novel by Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio about a group of working-class youngsters from Madrid meeting for a picnic by the river on a summer day.