Siege of Madrid one by the defenders (although the Nationalists were far better trained and equipped). Another disadvantage was their inability to surround Madrid and to cut if off from outside help. The Republicans had a geographical advantage in defending Madrid: the River Manzanares separated the Nationalists from the city centre, representing a formidable physical obstacle. Mola planned his assault on Madrid for 8 November 1936. He planned to attack through the Casa de Campo park (on a front of only wide) to try to avoid street fighting, as the park was open country and lay just across the river from the city
Madrid sector employs 18.1% of all employees. Madrid attracts about 8M tourists annually from other parts of Spain and from all over the world, exceeding even Barcelona. Spending by tourists in Madrid was estimated (2011) at €9,546.5M, or 7.7% of the city's GDP. The construction of transport infrastructure has been vital to maintain the economic position of Madrid. Travel to work and other local journeys use a high-capacity metropolitan road network and a well-used public transport system. In terms of longer-distance transport, Madrid is the central node of the system of "autovías" and of the high-speed rail network (AVE), which has