For much of its history the central part of the range, including the forests and grasslands on both sides of the mountains, was associated with the city of Segovia, at least as far back as its Roman control under the name of "Segóbriga". However, after the creation of the province of Madrid to meet the requirements of the Spanish Court, the political designation of the mountains was distributed between the two provinces. Today the range is more often associated with Madrid given that city's prominence as Spain's capital.