Nuevos Ministerios () is a government complex in central

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. The complex houses several

government departments Ministry or department (also less commonly used secretariat, office, or directorate) are designations used by first-level executive bodies in the machinery of governments that manage a specific sector of public administration." Энцикло� ...

Development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped * Photograph ...

, Labour,

Social Security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

, and Ecological Transition. It is located in the block delimited by the

Paseo de la Castellana Paseo de la Castellana, commonly known as La Castellana, is a major thoroughfare in Madrid, Spain. Cutting across the city from South to North, it has been described as the "true structuring axis" of the city. History and description The street ...

, the Raimundo Fernández Villaverde street, Agustín de Betancourt street and the San Juan de la Cruz

square In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90- degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length a ...

. The original project was the work of the architect Secundino Zuazo Ugalde and was soon sponsored by the then Minister of Public Works,

Indalecio Prieto Indalecio Prieto Tuero (30 April 1883 – 11 February 1962) was a Spanish politician, a minister and one of the leading figures of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) in the years before and during the Second Spanish Republic. Early life ...

. Its construction began in 1933 and, although it was paralyzed during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

, the entire complex was completed in 1942. It currently houses the headquarters of the

Ministry of Labour The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

and the Ministry of Public Works, among others. The entire architectural complex is integrated into the so-called AZCA center, one of the most important business centers and offices in the capital. In the vicinity is also the Nuevos Ministerios station, a multiple exchanger with services of

Bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

, Metro and

Cercanías The commuter rail systems of Spain's major metropolitan areas are called ''Cercanías'' () in most of Spain, ''Rodalia'' () in the Valencian Community, ''Aldiriak'' () in the Basque Country and ''Rodalies'' () in Catalonia. There are twelve ''Ce ...

. The building is used in the third and fourth seasons of the series

Money Heist ''Money Heist'' ( es, La casa de papel, link=no, , ) is a Spanish heist crime drama television series created by Álex Pina. The series traces two long-prepared heists led by the Professor (Álvaro Morte), one on the Royal Mint of Spain, an ...

(La Casa de Papel in Spanish), in which it is being used as the

Bank of Spain The Bank of Spain ( es, link=no, Banco de España) is the central bank of Spain. Established in Madrid in 1782 by Charles III, today the bank is a member of the European System of Central Banks and is also Spain's national competent authority fo ...

History

Background

During the 1920s,

had surpassed one million inhabitants (with about 800,000 at the beginning of the decade) and the city grew at a good pace (the expansion was almost entirely built as suburbs arose on the suburbs without order or concert). At the end of the decade, and in order to growth and solve the nascent traffic problems, the City Council convened an International Competition for the Ordination of Madrid in 1929, which did not materialize. One of the plans presented had been drawn up by the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

architect Secundino Zuazo and the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

urbanist Hermann Jansen. Shortly after the proclamation of the

Republic A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...

, the City Council required the City Planning Office to expand the city. The office prepared it in a very short time, based on the proposals of Zuazo and Hansen. The Government of the Republic considered as a priority the modernization of

and, in 1932, it approved the Capitality Act of Madrid. A year later, the Ministry of Government approved the General Expansion Project, taking almost the entire Municipal Office project. The fundamental point of the project was to achieve the expansion of the city to the north, around the

. As part of this purpose, the old

racecourse A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also use ...

, which was an obstacle to the planning of Paseo de la Castellana, was demolished. Another important milestone of the project was the construction of rail links between the stations in

. Again Zuazo, this time as a member of the Railways Commission of the Ministry of Public Works, played a relevant role, in charge of convincing Minister Prieto of the inconvenience of placing the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

in the center of Madrid (in

Callao Callao () is a Peruvian seaside city and region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area. Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to its main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport. Callao municipality consists of the whole Cal ...

) And to build the rail link between the stations of the North and Atocha, under the Gran Vía, due to the great congestion that would occur in the center of

. Thus, on the site left empty by the demolition of the

, the government of the Republic projected, as early as 1932, the construction of a complex in which to locate the ministerial departments, while building an underground rail link between Atocha-Cercanías and a new station in the north, Chamartín, which would be built by the engineer Eduardo Torroja and popularly called the "tunnel of the laughter".

Project and construction

The idea of constructing the ''New Ministries'' had been the work of

Minister of Public Works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

. However, this idea had already been raised by Zuazo in his "Prolongation Project of Castellana" in 1930, so Prieto commissioned the construction of what would be the New Ministries, to house the ministries of Public Works and Government. After the demolition of the

, the first stone was laid on April 15, 1933. Zuazo took the

Escorial El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial ( es, Monasterio y Sitio de El Escorial en Madrid), or Monasterio del Escorial (), is a historical residence of the King of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, up ...

as an inspiration for the project. However, at the beginning of the

, the New Ministries were unfinished, and the persecution suffered by Zuazo at the end of the war, during which he had been exiled in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, prevented him from continuing with the project. This was finalized by a team of architects related to the new regime, which eliminated or modified important parts of the project, such as the skyscraper planned for the north side. The work was finally completed in 1942, although the Ministry of Public Works and Urban Planning (MOPU) did not move there until 1958. There are suspicions that Zuazo shaped the plant as the Communist emblem of the

hammer and sickle The hammer and sickle (Unicode: "☭") zh, s=锤子和镰刀, p=Chuízi hé liándāo or zh, s=镰刀锤子, p=Liándāo chuízi, labels=no is a symbol meant to represent proletarian solidarity, a union between agricultural and industr ...

, since he was a supporter of the Soviet Union. The reference would not be noticed by the later Francoist architects.

Present Day

''Nuevos Ministerios'' currently houses the headquarters of the

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ...

, Labour,

, as well as the Ministry for Ecological Transition. The complex is fully integrated into the Castellana and the AZCA Complex, one of the most important business centers and offices in the Spanish capital. From the exchanger of the Nuevos Ministerios Station you can reach the government complex, through

(Lines C-1, C-2, C-3, C-4, C-7, C- , Metro (Lines 6, 8 and 10) and Madrid Buses (Lines 7, 14, 27, 40, 126, 147, 150, C1 and C2).

Characteristics

The current aspect of the whole retains much of the original form and style of the project, in which the echoes of the Monastery of El Escorial (in whose maintenance Zuazo worked) and the House of Flowers (an earlier work by Zuazo). The complex consists of a large central space with open spaces, fountains and ponds, around which different ministries are arranged, as well as a large arcade on the side facing

. The archery is one of the most characteristic elements of the whole. Underneath the patio was excavated the one that at the moment is the station of Nuevos Ministerios. The open space is used as a park by locals. It is decorated with historic items related to public works, such as road construction machinery and anchors.

References

External links

Nuevos Ministerios
{{coord, 40.4440, N, 3.6935, W, source:wikidata, display=title Office buildings in Madrid Government buildings in Spain Buildings and structures in Ríos Rosas neighborhood, Madrid