Situated at the extreme north of the Island of Bantayan is the Municipality of Madridejos. It is on a point extending diametrically into the Visayan Sea and occupying a very strategic position for fishing industry. Its surrounding waters are deep, generally tranquil, and rich as breeding places for millions of sardines and other kinds of fish. The public archives of MADRIDEJOS do not have historical records. In their absence, we have to rely on tradition which had been handed by words of mouth from one generation to another. Long before the Spaniards came to the Philippines, Madridejos, like other places in the Philippines, had its own culture. It was predominantly Malayan, for our ancestors were Malays who, inspired by the spirit of adventure and independence, crossed the sea and settled in this island. With them, they brought the culture, characteristics, and idiosyncrasies peculiar to their ancestors who inhabited the once Malayan Empire in Sumatra and Java.

Tradition credits Lazaro Mangubat as the first to settle in the northern part of the Island of Bantayan, where Madridejos is now located. He was the founder of “Lawis”, meaning point to the sea. It was he who proclaimed this place as the “Visita de Lawis” or fort used as a defense and refuge against the Moro pirates who plundered town after towns along the seacoast of the Visayas. He also erected a church whose ruined walls can still be seen towering in the northernmost part of this town. Lawis was the original name of Madridejos. In 1889 Father Juan Alcoseba, then the curate of the place, proclaimed Lawis as Madridejos in honor of Archbishop Fray of Madridejos, Spain. At the same time, he secured for it the political status as municipality. Later, however, Madridejos was twice annexed, at interval, to the municipality of Bantayan due to its financial inability to maintain itself.

Determined to make Madridejos independent from Bantayan, the prominent men of Madridejos, such as Vicente Bacolod, Facundo Lawan, Pio Montani, Felix Almodiel, Roman Ungui, and Estannislao Santillan, made vigorous efforts to serve the political relationship between Lawis and Bantayan. On January 2, 1917, Madridejos again became a separate municipality. When modern fishing operators came to Madridejos in 1935, they found the place just in its embryonic business stage of development. Its small population barely existed on what they could produce from their small, crude farming. There was hardly any means of transportation to speak of. The municipality could hardly stand on its feet because its revenue was unstable and uncertain.

Thick weeds grew all over, there were few buildings, and the streets were unclean. But as pioneers of the fishing industry started to introduce their fishing outfits around Madridejos, the town started to wake up from its long sleep, like a rejuvenated patient recovering from its long lingering sickness. In a brief span of time, the town was transformed into a regular and second class municipality with many big modern buildings: clean and wide streets thronged with thousands of people: bright illuminations with fluorescent lamps along the streets: sari-sari stores: tailoring establishments: furniture stores: welding shops: photo shops: carenderias: and lodging houses. The fishing industry of Madridejos employs several thousands of men who receive thousands of pesos of wages. This money is spent around and thus increase the volume of money circulation and business prosperity of Madridejos never witnessed before in all its history. It is the fishing industry that gains for Madridejos the name, “Little Alaska of the Philippines”.

Isda or “Fish” is very abundant in the seas of Madridejos, Cebu. Thus, Fishing is the main livelihood of the people. Isda Festival is a celebration of thanksgiving for the abundant marine life in the area. The festival is celebrated every december 8, 2012 in line with the feast of Immaculate Concepcion the towns Patron Saint. During the parade contingents wear costumes and bring props that depicts the sea creatures and marine animals that are abundant in the area. Isda Festival also won as 3rd placer in this years Pasigarbo sa Sugbo Festival of Festivals

Madridejos can be reached by boat from Cebu City via Santa Fe with 75-minutes ferry service to San Remigio (Hagnaya) via Island Shipping or SuperShuttle Ferry and also via Ceres bus from North Bus Terminal to Madridejos Vice-Versa. Bus (jeepney) travel to Madridejos via the municipality of Bantayan takes about a further hour. There are currently NO overnight boats from Cebu City to Bantayan Island, nor are there any scheduled commercial air flights. Private air companies occasionally fly smaller Cessna and Piper aircraft into Bantayan Airport.

The main industries of Madridejos are fishing, poultry and tourism. Because of its rich fishing grounds, Madridejos earned the name of “Little Alaska of the Philippines”: the first canning factory in the country was established here, but it lost its sustaining impact in the history of the municipality after it was bombed during World War II. At present, poultry-raising is a growing industry and Madridejos provides a substantial quantity of eggs produced for sale to the neighboring provinces. Madridejos also hosts a fairly substantial tertiary college – Salazar College

Madridejos is one of the three (3) municipalities in Bantayan Island, an Island which is located on the western portion of the northernmost tip of Mainland Cebu. The other two (2) neighboring municipalities of Madridejos are Sta. Fe and Bantayan. The Municipality of Madridejos is situated at 11.3° North latitude, 123.73° East longitude and 3 meters elevation above the sea level. It is bounded on the north by the Visayan Sea, on the south by the Municipality of Bantayan, on the east by town of Medellin and on the west also by the Visayan Sea.

Madridejos has a total land area of 2,443.2 hectares or 24.432 square kilometres. This is only about 0.48% of the 5,088.44 square kilometres total land area of the Province of Cebu. It comprises of 14 barangays. The respective land areas of these barangays are shown in the table:

Lands with 0-3% slopes dominate the planning area which comprises approximately 92.81%. In Barangay San Agustin and Kangwayan in the southern portion of the boundary between Madridejos and Bantayan, a slope range of 8-15% is classified. It occupies more or less 2.67% of the municipal land area.

Madridejos belong to the fourth type of the climate in the Philippines. Rainfall is evenly distributed throughout the year. The area is open to the north east monsoon east trade winds and southwest monsoon. The general direction of winds are as follows: October to January – north to east; February to April – east to southwest; May to September – southerly due to the flat topography of the area, wind velocity is uniform in all Barangays.

There are four (4) types of soil in Madridejos, namely: Bolinao Clay, Bolinao Clay Steep Phase, Beach Sand and Hydrosol, Bolinao Clay is the dominant soil type which covers about 1,798 hectares or 74%. It is followed by Bolinao Clay Steep Phase with 403 Hectares or 16%. The Beach sand with more or less 154 Hectares or 6%, and Hydrosol about 65 Hectares or 2%.

Analysis would show that out of the total of 2,414.293 hectares of land in Madridejos which is defined by the Municipal bounderies, 2,351.7628 or 97.41% is not susceptible to erosion which is distributed throughout the Municipality. Only about 62.53% is classified as slightly susceptible to erosion. The area is located in the southern portion of the planning area. A part of which is in Barangay San Agustin and the remaining portion is found in Barangay Kangwayan. Coastal barangays are susceptible to erosion which partially damages the coastal road during the interaction of typhoon surge.

There are only three (3) land capability classes in Madridejos, namely: “A”, “Y” and “X” which are reflected on the Table including area, location and technical description of the land capability classes in Madridejos.

There are only three (3) land capability classes in Madridejos, namely: “A”, “Y” and “X” which are reflected on the Table including area, location and technical description of the land capability classes in Madridejos.