According to Rrrjewelry, the province of Madrid occupies a separate position in the interior, which has remained essentially rural, where there is a density of 799 residents / km²: it is in fact an area that has become vital exclusively thanks to the presence of the capital, its sovereign role in area of ​​the country and the fact that it hosts, with the various peripheral agglomerations that have become part of the urban core, over a tenth of the entire Spanish population. The rural organization, based on small municipalities, pueblos), often very far from each other, formed by houses gathered around the castle or church; the size of the village is varied and intimately linked to agricultural needs and environments, according to rules that date back to distant centuries. In the southern lands and in the Levant the village, generally of considerable size, is placed on a hill for defense reasons and has the typical characteristics of the Mediterranean area, with the houses piled up and the walls whitewashed with lime; in the internal plateau it is instead located mainly in the hollows, also in function of the water supply, with often modest dwellings, with structures of wood and mud; in the Pyrenean region the small village of shepherds and farmers who live in stone houses predominates, as well as in the Cantabrian and Galician region, where small groups of houses rise in the narrow valley floor. The scattered house (rural dwelling) is found mainly in the huertas intensively cultivated throughout the southern coastal strip and the Andalusian plain.

Overall, the urban population constitutes 77.6% of the total (2012): urbanism has therefore gradually become an imposing phenomenon. The urban structure of the capital Madrid struggles to withstand the impact of the massive immigration flow: traditionally well ordered in the calles and avenidas, which intersect forming a regular checkerboard, ennobled by the distinguished buildings (public and religious) of the historic center and made lively by that sort of large living room that is the calle mayor(Forced “stroll” of its residents), Madrid suffers from an excess of concentration. Together with Barcelona, ​​starting from the last century it has in fact absorbed most of the population that has left the countryside, with serious urban inconsistencies, chaotic suburbs, lacking or insufficiently equipped with adequate housing and various essential services. An attempt was made to remedy the almost uncontrolled expansion of Madrid and Barcelona by contrasting the two metropolises with a series of development poles (Valencia in the Levant, Seville in southern Spain, Bilbao in the Cantabrian belt, Zaragoza in the Ebro valley, Valladolid in the northern Meseta etc.) to give a more organic structure to the territorial organization of the country, which has kept numerous archaic and underdeveloped areas for too long. The fortune of Madrid is substantially explained by its position in the geographical heart of the country, of which it is the main hub for road, rail and air communications; artificially created capital for political reasons, that is, to be the symbol, even geographically, of central power, the city, rich in artistic and cultural testimonies in keeping with its role as great capital, carries out intense financial, administrative, commercial and industrial activities (especially industries read) and forms a large urban agglomeration with the secondary centers of its vast periphery. Second Spanish city is to be the symbol, even geographically, of central power, the city, rich in artistic and cultural testimonies suited to its role as a great capital, carries out intense financial, administrative, commercial and industrial activities (especially light industries) and forms a large agglomeration urban with the secondary centers of its vast suburbs.

Second Spanish city is to be the symbol, even geographically, of central power, the city, rich in artistic and cultural testimonies suited to its role as a great capital, carries out intense financial, administrative, commercial and industrial activities (especially light industries) and forms a large agglomeration urban with the secondary centers of its vast suburbs. Second Spanish city is Barcelona, an important Mediterranean port, the largest in the country, benefited from its position at the mouth of the natural routes in the hinterland and on the obligatory passage of the routes that descend from the Pyrenees towards the coastal cities of the Levant and which the recent development of tourism has greatly increased. importance as a communications node; the city, also grown in an impressive way, but more organic than Madrid, constitutes with the neighboring agglomerations of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Badalona, Sabadelletc., a real conurbation, characterized by a strong industrial activity (especially textile, automotive and mechanics in general) thanks also to the entrepreneurial vivacity, typical of the Catalans. Always on the Mediterranean arise Valencia, the third Spanish city by number of residents, seat of important industries and commercial center, the outlet of a very rich huerta, and Málaga (568,479 inhab. In 2013), a largely tourist city, at the top of the renowned Costa del Sol; inland, also in a thriving agricultural area, is Murcia. In the Andalusian basin the largest city is Seville, located on the left bank of the Guadalquivir, of which there is an active port; city ​​of ancient origin and rich in historical and artistic testimonies (already flourishing under Arab rule, it maintained its importance after the Reconquista), is now also the seat of relevant industries.

Granada, a splendid Arab city full of distinguished monuments that testify to its past greatness (just think of the Alhambracomplex, one of the highest expressions of Arab architecture), the capital of a kingdom that almost to the threshold of the century. XVI resisted the attacks of the Catholic kings (the last Arab bulwark, Granada fell in 1492), and Cordova (328.704 in 2013), also the capital of a powerful caliphate Arab and one of the greatest cultural centers of the Middle Ages, are the other economic poles of the Andalusian region, commercial and industrial centers, as well as well-known tourist cities. On the Atlantic, in northern Spain, there is another belt of high density and urbanization: here there are various ports, once mainly aimed at trade with north-western Europe, made dynamic by industrial development (heavy industry), which it can draw on local mineral resources (Asturias, Basque Provinces, Cantabria, etc.). A great industrial and commercial center, one of the most dynamic in the country, is Bilbao, a very active port, especially with Great Britain and northern Europe in general; La Coruña and Vigo, in Galicia, they are also important fishing centers; also active for various trades and industries are Gijón and Santander. In the Meseta, where once very vital cities now have a very modest role (just think of Toledo, which in memory of its past greatness has remained the highest religious center in the country, seat of the primate of Spain), the only relevant, dynamic industrial center is Valladolid; a little less Salamanca and Burgos, cities of the ancient Leonese and Castilian nobility and high bourgeoisie. Finally, it is of considerable importance as it is considered a new development pole in the context of recent territorial reorganization plans Zaragoza, the capital of Aragon, a commercial and manufacturing center, home to numerous automobile, chemical, glass and food industries, an important railway and road junction controlling the roads that from Catalonia give access to the Meseta.