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Complutense University of Madrid » Overview of the Institution

In terms of infrastructure and history, the Complutense University is a benchmark institution in the Spanish university system. In 2007, the main university of Madrid had 21 faculties, 5 university schools, 35 university research institutes, 9 specialist professional schools, 4 university hospitals, and 32 libraries. At these facilities a wide range of courses are taught including official degree courses, official and internal postgraduate courses, and complementary courses; around these study programmes there is a strong university environment, and an intense cultural life.

The origin of this institution dates back to the end of the 18th century, with the creation of the General Schools of Education in Alcalá de Henares, although it was the papal bull granted by Alexander VI in 1399 which gave rise in this town in the region of Madrid to Complutum (the official origin of the Complutense University) at the hand of Cardinal Cisneros. In 1836 the University was moved to Madrid, its final base, but under the title of Central University. In 1970, the University was once again named Complutense.

The installations of the institution are mainly located on two campuses: the Moncloa campus (Ciudad Universitaria), located in the centre of Madrid, planning for which commenced in 1927; and the Somosaguas campus, which began construction in the 1970s and which houses most of the facilities devoted to Social Sciences.

In addition to these facilities in our country, the Complutense University has centre in other overseas institutions, for example the Royal Complutense College at Harvard, created in 1990 in cooperation with this prestigious North American university, and whose purpose is to "promote and encourage the intellectual and scientific academic exchange between Harvard University, the Complutense University and other Spanish universities and institutions, both public and private". The "Miguel Servet" College of Higher European Studies, based in Paris and created in 1993; the Dubcek Seat at the Comenius University in Slovakia; and the Complutense Seat at the University of Karlova, in the Czech Republic, are other examples of these initiatives.

Among those who have been involved with the Complutense, either as students or tutors, there are key cultural and scientific figures both from Spain and further afield. These include Quevedo, Jovellanos, Gregorio Marañón, the researcher Severo Ochoa, José Ortega y Gasset, and Fernando de Los Ríos, among others. No less significant are the personalities who have been made Honorary Members of the Complutense University: Albert Einstein, Claudio Magris, Alexander Fleming, Francisco Ayala, Norberto Bobbio, Umberto Eco,Valentín Fuster and Giovanni Sartori, to name a few.

For further information on these courses, we recommend contacting the university:

Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Ciudad Universitaria - 28040 Madrid
Teléfono: +34 914520400
Correo electrónico: infocom@ucm.es