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{{Infobox settlement
| official_name          = Seseña
| image_flag             = Bandera de Seseña.svg
| image_shield           = Escudo de Seseña.svg
| settlement_type        = [[Municipalities in Spain|Municipality]]
| nickname               =
| image_skyline          = Vistas (8863194689).jpg
| coordinates            = {{coord|40|6|13|N|3|41|53|W|region:ES_type:city|display=inline,title}}
| pushpin_map            = Spain Castilla-La Mancha#Spain
| pushpin_map_caption    = Location in Spain
| subdivision_type       = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name       = [[Spain]]
| subdivision_type1      = [[Autonomous communities of Spain|Autonomous community]]
| subdivision_name1      = [[Castilla–La Mancha]]
| subdivision_type2      = [[Provinces of Spain|Province]]
| subdivision_name2      = [[Toledo (province)|Toledo]]
| leader_title           = [[Mayor]]
| leader_name            = Silvia Fernández ([[Spanish Socialist Workers' Party|PSOE]])<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lacerca.com/noticias/toledo/silvia-fernandez-psoe-alcaldesa-sesena-popular-carlos-velazquez-472055-1.html|website=La Cerca|date=15 June 2019|title=Silvia Fernández, del PSOE, se convierte en nueva alcaldesa de Seseña (Toledo) sucediendo al ‘popular’ Carlos Velázquez}}</ref>
| area_total_km2         = 71.41
| area_land_km2          =
| area_water_km2         =
| elevation_m            = 598
| population_as_of       = {{Spain metadata Wikidata|population_as_of}}
| population_footnotes = {{Spain metadata Wikidata|population_footnotes}}
| population_total       = {{Spain metadata Wikidata|population_total}}
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_note        =
| population_demonym     = Seseñero/a
| timezone               = [[Central European Time|CET]]
| utc_offset             = +1
| timezone_DST           = [[Central European Summer Time|CEST]]
| utc_offset_DST         = +2
| website                =
| footnotes              =
}}
'''Seseña''' is a municipality of [[Spain]] located in the [[Toledo (province)|province of Toledo]], [[Castilla–La Mancha]]. It is part of [[La Sagra]] comarca.{{Sfn|Jiménez de Gregorio|1997|p=33}} As of 1 January 2020, the municipality has a population of 27,066.<ref name=REL>{{Cite web|publisher=[[Ministry of Economy (Spain)|Ministerio de Asuntos Económicos y Transformación Digital]]|title=Datos del Registro de Entidades Locales|access-date=16 May 2021|url=https://ssweb.seap.minhap.es/REL/frontend/inicio/municipios/8/13414/150}}</ref>
Seseña gained visibility as a result of controversial speculative development projects in Vallegrande and El Quiñón during the [[Spanish property bubble]]. The municipality is nowadays composed of four sectors that are far away from each other and have no footpath connecting them, as is usual in Spanish towns.
== Geography ==
The municipality spans across a total area of 71.41 km<sup>2</sup>.<ref name=REL /> To the north, the municipality borders the [[Community of Madrid|Madrid region]].{{Sfn|Jiménez de Gregorio|1997|p=32}} The northern
part of Seseña reaches the highest altitude in the municipality, at around 684 metres above mean sea level, while the southern end close to the [[Jarama]] and [[Tagus]] rivers lies at around 500 metres.{{Sfn|Jiménez de Gregorio|1997|p=32}}
==History==
The [[Battle of Seseña]] was an ill-fated [[Second Spanish Republic|Republican]] assault on the Nationalist stronghold of Seseña in October 1936 during the [[Spanish Civil War]]. The battle is notable for being the first time that tank warfare was seen in the Spanish war and for the use of [[Molotov cocktail]]s against loyalist [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[T-26 tank]]s by [[Francoist Spain|Francoist]] rebel troops.<ref>[http://www.kevos4.com/Molotov_Cocktail.htm History of the Molotov cocktail]</ref><ref>[[Hugh Thomas (writer)|Thomas, Hugh]] (1994). ''The Spanish Civil War''. Simon & Schuster, p. 468. {{ISBN|0-671-75876-4}}</ref>
In May 2016, 9,000 residents of Seseña were ordered to evacuate after a [[tire fire]] at a dump produced a toxic cloud.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2016-05-13 |title=Spanish tyre dump fire triggers evacuation of 9,000 people |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/13/spanish-tyre-dump-fire-triggers-evacuation-of-9000-people |access-date=2024-02-08 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
==Francisco Hernando==
[[File:Residencial Francisco Hernando (003).jpg|thumb|left|The Residencial Francisco Hernando]]
The ''Residencial Francisco Hernando'' development was built in the El Quiñón area of Seseña by property developer [[Onde 2000]] belonging to the Grupo Francisco Hernando. Begun during the construction boom of the 2000s (decade), due to the municipality's location within commuting distance of Madrid, it was to be one of the largest such developments in Spain, with an original plan of 13,500 units costing over 9 billion euros to build. However, the massive project raised eyebrows. Since utilities such as water and gas lines were not included in the plans, the completed units risked being uninhabitable. Also the project had been approved unusually quickly: it turned out that the authorities had been bribed, and the former local Mayor José Luis Martín was soon arrested, but never brought to trial.<ref name=MeltdownCBC>[http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/meltdown/about.html "Meltdown:Secret History of the Global Financial Collapse"], Canadian CBC Investigative Television series, 2008.</ref><ref name=EquaGuinea>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/overseasproperty/4640857/Property-in-Spain-Castles-in-the-sand.html|title=Property in Spain: Castles in the sand|publisher=[Telegraph Media Group]| author=Alfonso Daniels|archive-url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/archive/2009-02-19.html|location=United Kingdom| newspaper=The Telegraph|quote=In Seseña they claim Hernando persuaded the former mayor José Luis Martín to approve his development six years ago, reclassifying nearly 200 hectares of land from farm to urban usage, while ignoring reports from the regional authorities....  Last July (2008) the public prosecutor’s office formally accused Martín of lying after telling the local assembly that the reports received from the authorities were 'favourable’ and that an environmental impact study had been received (this was not the case), prompting the assembly to approve the project.  More damningly, there have also been questions about thousands of pounds the former mayor allegedly pocketed during that same period, an amount Martín claims to have won on the lottery.  Hernando says maybe he did win the lottery, and denies having offered any bribes, pointing to the fact that the prosecutor’s office decided not to investigate him.  A senior member of the prosecutor’s office confirmed to me on condition of anonymity that Hernando is not under investigation but that the judge will now have to figure out where Martín’s money came from.  Few believe that this will happen given that Spain’s regional courts have fewer resources to investigate alleged crimes than those available to the prosecutor....  Only as I am about to leave does he tell me that he has decided to leave Spain, tired of its bureaucracy and of waiting for the economy to improve, and will move to Equatorial Guinea....  The purpose is to build 38,000 homes starting at the end of February, as well as construction plants and even football stadiums to host the 2012 African Cup of Nations, which Equatorial Guinea is hosting with its neighbour Gabon.|archive-date=2009-02-20|date=2009-02-19|url-status=dead|access-date=2012-07-09}}.</ref>
Following scandal and the economic crisis related to the Spanish property bubble, the developer ran into trouble sustaining demand and financing for the project. By mid-2008 fewer than 3000 of the completed apartments had been sold and fewer than a third of the sold apartments were occupied, leaving the development a "[[ghost town]]" reminder of Spain's economic woes.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7584097.stm "From boom town to ghost town"], BBC News, 2008-08-27</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/8842758.stm "How vulnerable is the Spanish economy?"], BBC News, 2010-07-21</ref><ref>[http://www.mediapart.fr/diaporama.php?d=Espagne-2009-BIS&t=68936116e94b8a5bc2333923579003dd "Seseña, phantom city in crisis"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721124643/http://www.mediapart.fr/diaporama.php?d=Espagne-2009-BIS&t=68936116e94b8a5bc2333923579003dd |date=2011-07-21 }}, photo essay from article, [http://www.mediapart.fr/journal/international/151209/face-la-crise-zapatero-t-il-tout-faux "Face à la crise, Zapatero a-t-il tout faux?"] by Ludovic Lamant, French language Magazine "Le Journal" 2009-12-21.</ref>
The developer, [[Francisco Hernando Contreras]] aka El Pocero, was never criminally charged with wrongdoing and moved his business to [[Equatorial Guinea]].<ref name=EquaGuinea /> He died on 3 April 2020 of [[coronavirus disease 2019]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Muere por coronavirus Paco el Pocero, el famoso constructor de Seseña durante la burbuja inmobiliaria |url=https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/4215767/0/muere-paco-pocero-coronavirus/ |access-date=3 April 2020 |work=www.20minutos.es |date=3 April 2020 |language=es}}</ref>
In the context of the boom of [[logistics]] experienced in [[La Sagra]] (and the spread of the [[mobile home]] phenomena in nearby locations such as [[Carranque]], [[Yeles]], [[Numancia de la Sagra|Numancia]], [[Illescas, Toledo|Illescas]], and [[Yuncos]]), most of the dwellings in the Residencial Francisco Hernando were inhabited by the early 2020s, and the municipal government thereby unblocked a plan for the construction of more buildings,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.epe.es/es/vivienda-en-madrid/20211006/casas-prefabricadas-caravanas-vez-pisos-12134890|date=6 October 2021|first=Roberto|last=Bécares|title=Casas prefabricadas y 'caravanas' en vez de pisos: el boom logístico desborda el límite entre Toledo y Madrid}}</ref> with the municipality laying out a project in 2022 seeking to build "up until 13,825 dwellings", even more than those 'El Pocero' dreamed of.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.epe.es/es/vivienda/20220116/tsunami-ladrillo-sesena-viviendas-13099391|website=El Periódico de España|title=Un tsunami de ladrillo llega a Seseña: planea 13.825 viviendas que dejan pequeño el sueño de 'El Pocero'|date=16 January 2022|first=Roberto|last=Bécares}}</ref>
Residencial Francisco Hernando is the inspiration and setting for the 2022 novel ''Lejos'' by {{ill|Rosa Ribas|es}}, published in English as ''Far''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Espinosa |first1=Pedro M. |title=“La ambición literaria debe estar siempre ahí” |url=https://www.diariodesevilla.es/entrevistas/ambicion-literaria-debe-siempre-ahi_0_1689431405.html |work=Diario de Sevilla |date=7 June 2022 |language=es}}</ref><ref>{{ISBN| 9788411071185}}</ref><ref>{{ISBN| 9781738446346}}</ref>
==References==
;Citations
{{reflist}}
;Bibliography
* {{Cite journal|author-link=Fernando Jiménez de Gregorio|first=Fernando|last=Jiménez de Gregorio|title=Panorama geográfico-histórico de la villa de Seseña|journal=Toletum: Boletín de la Real Academia de Bellas Artes y Ciencias Históricas de Toledo|issn=0210-6310|issue=37|year=1997|pages=31–44|url=http://biblioteca2.uclm.es/biblioteca/ceclm/ARTREVISTAS/Toletum/tol37/tol_jimenezpanorama.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711125202/http://biblioteca2.uclm.es/biblioteca/ceclm/ARTREVISTAS/Toletum/tol37/tol_jimenezpanorama.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2020-07-11}}
{{Onde 2000}}
{{Municipalities in Toledo}}
{{Commons category}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sesena}}
[[Category:Municipalities in the Province of Toledo]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Spain]]