The dynamism of the metropolis of Madrid and its intense spatial restructuring has been explained by the processes of globalization and technological change. This has generated a discussion about its condition as a global city. This article initially presents the limits of the concept as apparent in the international debate, then immerses itself in the issue from the perspective of the attraction of foreign capital. The analysis of diverse statistical sources confirms the high sectoral concentration of so-called command functions (financial services and advanced firm services). This concentration in the city centre, in spite of competition from new location types in the surrounding metropolitan area (business parks, financial cities), are aspects that have to be incorporated into any reflection on the balanced and sustainable growth of Madrid and other metropoli in the current phase of capitalist development.

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Institute of Statistics, this article analyses the evolution of the stocks of companies in 21 processing industries in the second half of the 90s. The aim of the article is testing the hypothesis of an urban/rural shift in industrial location in Spain and in three of its regions: Andalusia, Castille-La Mancha and Catalonia. These data are checked with inforl];¡ation provided by field research in rural municipalities of Castille-La Mancha. The study concludes that the «shift» is having place both at the national and the intra-regional levels. Given that its manifestations and rhythms are evident in different regions, one can deduce that general factors must be more important than local factors to explain this shift. While mature industries are still major activities in rural areas, the empirical evidence shows that the «shift» is more important in basic and high-tech industries than in traditional ones. We conclude that, paying attention to the problems of non-traditional industries in rural areas and especially to emergent high-tech activities that have shown-against all prognostics-a special aptitude to develop in rural areas, is an urgent task.

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