Hotel Riu Plaza España (Spain Building)

Brief Information

The Edificio España did not begin as an ordinary hotel, but as a vertical city: in 1953, a single skyscraper brought together a hotel, offices, apartments, and shops. For Madrid, it was a striking gesture of postwar scale: 25 floors and 117 meters made it the tallest building in Spain, until a few years later it was surpassed by the neighboring Torre de Madrid.

Today, Hotel Riu Plaza España once again operates as a hotel, but the earlier idea of a mixed-use building can still be read in its layout. The lower floors are given over to shops, with guest rooms and event spaces above, while a pool and sky bar have appeared at the top. An important fact when looking at the facade: during one of the renovations, the facade and lobby were kept intact, although the building’s interior program changed several times.

What to Notice First

It is worth comparing four levels on which the building can be read. First, the overall silhouette: the profile of Edificio España on Plaza de España works together with the Torre de Madrid at the end of Gran Vía, so the skyscraper was conceived not only as a separate tower, but also as part of an urban accent. Then, the Neo-Baroque appearance: a historicizing shell conceals a 20th-century structure, creating a contrast between the decorative language and the height of the skyscraper.

The next detail is the preserved facade and lobby. They are important because inside, the building has already shifted from a mix of hotel, offices, apartments, and shops to a fully hotel-based function. Finally, one can compare the lower and upper floors: shops occupy the first three levels, while the pool, sky bar, and terrace are placed on the top two. In this way, the building reads from bottom to top: from an urban storefront to hotel height.