Founded in 1499,  Complutense University of Madrid is one of the oldest universities in Spain and Europe. Its origin can be traced back to 1293, when King Sancho IV de Castilla ordered the establishment of a multidisciplinary school in Alcalá de Henares. Based on the school, the pope Alexander VI  officially established the Complutense University of Madrid in 1499. In the beginning, the school mainly taught theology, law, medicine and art. In the following three centuries, as Spain’s national strength grew, UCM became more and more famous. A great evidence of this is that the well-known writer Cervantes mentioned the situation of the students at Complutense in the 31st chapter of his book Don Quixote.

UCM ranked the second among all Spanish universities in 2021 in the ranking of Spanish newspaper El Mundo. In addition, the university ranks the 206^th in the QS World University Rankings in 2021. The university stands out in a considerable number of academic areas, covering humanities, social science and natural science. Many disciplines rank top 50 worldwide.