Alcalá de Henares, town, central Spain, in Madrid Province, on the Henares River, near Madrid. An industrial center in which leather products and soap are produced, Alcalá is also a trading center for the surrounding agricultural area. The town was known to the Romans as Complutum. It was destroyed about 1000 and was rebuilt in 1083 by the Moors. The University of Alcalá, which became a leading educational center in Spain, was founded in 1510; it was moved to Madrid in 1836. A celebrated early Bible, the Complutensian Polyglot Bible, was printed in Alcalá in 1517. The town is the birthplace of the Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes. Population (1998 estimate) 163,831.Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
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