It is also the location of the headquarters of the Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA), the Spanish space agency.

Torrejón comes from torre ("tower"); the suffix -jón is a diminutive that ultimately makes reference to the small or unimportant nature of the noun.

In 1843 it was the place of a short battle between general Ramón Narvaez and senator Antonio Seoane, as part of the rebellion against Espartero.

The base was subject of criticism since its beginnings and a meeting place of pacifist demonstrations attended by progressives and ecologists.

[5] One of the election platforms of Felipe González's Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) was to close the base to the American fighter wing.

[8] Torrejón de Ardoz has a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSk) with cool winters, hot summers and precipitation concentrated in the autumn and spring seasons.

The city still has 3 industrial estates: Casablanca, Charco de los Peces and Las Monjas.