Investigations performed by a multidisciplinary team comprising the authors and others have
revealed the existence of extensive historical water supply systems based on qanats in two
very important cities in the center of the Iberian Peninsula. In Madrid, the frst documented
city and one with much importance in the Iberian Peninsula, tunnels identifed as qanats in
1959 have been associated with the city"s Muslim origin. Since then, qanats have also been
discovered in the study area and specifc enclaves in three other cases, although these have
less importance. This work gathers all these cases, which, until now, had been treated in isolation, quantifes them and performs a cross-sectional analysis of the most relevant aspects. The results show multiple connections between the diferent cases and indicate that they form an interrelated set. In this way, questions regarding the status of qanats in this area are redefned, the knowledge base is expanded and strengthened, and new lines of research are opened.Junta de Comunidades de Castilla La ManchaUnión Europea. Fondo Europeo de DesarrolloUniversidad de Alcalá, Vicerrectorado de Investigación y Transferenci
