Plaza de España is the most important square in the autonomous Spanish city of

Melilla Melilla (, ; ) is an autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was part of the Province of Málaga un ...

. It is located in the Ensanche Modernista, between the old town (

Melilla la Vieja Melilla la Vieja ("Old Melilla") is a large fortress which stands immediately to the north of the port in Melilla, one of Spain's Plazas de soberanía on the north African coast. Built during the 16th and 17th centuries, much of the fortress has ...

) and the new urban centre (Barrio Reina Victoria).

History

Planned as the Urbanization Project of the Puerta de Santa Bárbara in 1910 by José de la Gándara and approved in January 1911,

Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Alfonso León Fernando María Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena''; French language, French: ''Alphonse Léon Ferdinand Marie Jacques Isidore Pascal Antoine de Bourbon''; 17 May ...

began the demolition of the field walls, on April 11 the tower of Santa Bárbara was demolished and in June 1912 the Board of Arbitrations granted it the name of Plaza de España. The project was approved on January 18, 1913, by the president of the Board of Arbitrations General José Villalba Riquelme, and construction began on April 22 of the same year, a process that concluded on January 23, 1914, with the inauguration of the beautiful square by the same General Villalba. In 2007 its gardens obtained, together with the

Hernandez Park Hernández Park is the most important park in the autonomous Spanish city of Melilla and is located in the Ensanche Modernista, in Plaza de España. History Its origin dates back to 1872, when the old bed of the Río de Oro was filled with ...

, the title of Historic Garden.

Description

The square consists of a roundabout with a radius of eighty metres. It has three rings of walkways and two interspersed gardens, with the Monument to the Heroes and Martyrs of the Campaigns located at its centre. File:Plaza de España de Melilla (2).jpg, File:Plaza de España de Melilla.jpg, File:Plaza de España, Melilla (5).jpg,

References

Geography of Melilla Autonomous cities of Spain Enclaves and exclaves Mediterranean port cities and towns in Spain Morocco–Spain border crossings Plazas in Melilla {{Melilla landmarks