Villanueva de la Cañada is a municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Located 30 km north-west from Madrid, the municipality covers an area of 34.92 km2. Geographically, it sits on a large plain, in which there are several promontories, on one of which is found the castle of Aulencia, its main landmark. The ESA's European Space Astronomy Centre lies close to the former, on the Guadarrama riverfront.