2023-10-14 11:19:39
The Plaza de España in Madrid, the link between the central Gran Vía and Princesa streets, houses two large skyscrapers. The most imposing (not the tallest) It is the España Building, thanks to its 117 meters high, but above all its wide façade. Although today the terrace of its hotel on the roof is one of the most famous in the capital, not so many years ago it remained closed, after its owners could not find a use for it, including Banco Santander or the Chinese billionaire Wang, who even named the Atlético de Madrid stadium.
This skyscraper is linked to Franco’s autarky, in the reconstruction of the Gran Vía after the Civil war. Conceptualized as a hotel, it was designed by the Otamendi brothers, who are also the architects of the Madrid Tower, located right opposite and 25 meters higher. This obsession with building skyscrapers had its greatest splendor in the Soviet Union and sought to erect eight large buildings that provoked the envy of European countries. Neither short nor lazy, the Franco Regime commissioned the construction of the España Building, which It became the highest in Europe. Its construction began in 1948, although it was not inaugurated until 1953. The Movement’s press, including NODO, described the building as “a pride of the new great Madrid,” and at the opening party on its terrace, “up to four thousand people gathered.” five hundred or five thousand people” of various nationalities, according to the chronicles.
The España Building could have been called ‘Cucaracha Building’ because I was prepared to survive in all circumstances. In the past, at the top of the skyscraper there were two large tanks that guaranteed the water supply. This is not the only thing, there was also a large fuel tank that, together with a power plant and about a hundred engines, was prepared to have its own energy. In addition to being prepared for a war, it was also prepared for the superstitious because, like many other hotels and skyscrapers, it does not have a 13th floor or room No. 13.
For more than half a century, the España Building functioned as a hotel, although it also had 200 homes, 400 offices, a shopping gallery and restaurants. The building was the work of the Compañía Urbanizadora Metropolitana (CUM), one of the most important companies in land development in the capital during the 20th century. This company, of Madrid origin and responsible, among other works, for Reina Victoria Avenue or the Metropolitan Stadium, merged with Inmobiliaria Metropolitana Vasco Central, architect of the Madrid financial district of Azca, giving rise to Metrovacesa, one of the most important from before the Spanish bubble.
It was Metrovacesa that sold the property after more than half a century. It ended up in the hands of an investment fund managed by Banco Santander, but the burst of the real estate bubble in 2008 caused its closure. It was in 2014 when Banco Santander decided to get rid of the building, which was bought by Wang Jianlin, then one of the richest men in china and owner of the empire Wandawhich only three years later he sold it again to one of the most controversial investors in Spain.
Buy and sell the building on the same day. How is it done?
At this point in the story, Trinitario Casanova appears, a multimillionaire Murcian businessman and an eccentric character. In 2016, the Chinese tycoon and the Spanish tycoon closed the sale, but this agreement was never registered. It is in June 2017 when Wanda and Baraka agree to make their deal official. Wang and Trinitario Casanova, according to the second, agreed to bring a typical costume from their countries to the signing. So, at that moment, the Spaniard picked up a bullfighter’s costume that his second wife gave him after the wedding, but Wang did not show up at the signing and sent his right-hand man to Europe. Only Trinitario posed with the bullfighter’s costume, a scarlet and gold jacket made by Justo Algaba, one of the best bullfighting tailors in the country. This photo, intended to be sent to the owner of the Chinese empire, ended up spreading, giving rise to ridicule within the sector.
How important is it to pose with a bullfighter’s jacket? In theory none, if it were not because An hour and a half after closing the purchase of the España Building from Wang, Trinitario Casanova sold it to the Balearic Riu family, owner of the hotel chain that today operates the four-star hotel. Evil tongues then said that Trinitario had ‘given a pass’ as a bullfighter.
A 500-room hotel and the largest Zara in the world
After more than a decade with the blinds down, the España Building recovered all its splendor in 2019, as did the square in which it is located, also recently renovated by the Madrid City Council. The hotel, which covers most of the surface, is made up of 583 rooms. The rest is a commercial area, which among other places, Until a few weeks ago, it housed the largest Zara store in the worldwhich has not ceased to be because it has closed, but because Amancio Ortega’s fashion brand plans to open a store in Rotterdam that surpasses it in size.
One of the great anecdotes of the building is that it has a Guinness record. During the renovation to convert it into a hotel, the owners They hung a large banner advertising a Ford brand vehicle, which received this distinction for its size, more than 5,200 square meters, and its weight, more than two tons. During a storm that hit the capital, it partially detached and required firefighters to move and cut it to avoid further damage.
The last renovation took care of all kinds of details, even the elevator buttons, which are the originals, even though the elevators are not. Before the last remodeling, the then owner proposed a partial demolition of the building, but 70,000 citizens of Madrid collected signatures to prevent this from taking place. This has allowed us to preserve, among other things, the main marble staircase at the entrance along which the dictator Francisco Franco walked the day of the inauguration of the España Building. Now yes, restored.
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