The Telefónica Building, in Spanish ''Edificio Telefónica'', is a

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, which serves as the

registered office A registered office is the official address of an incorporated company, association or any other legal entity. Generally it will form part of the public record and is required in most countries where the registered organization or legal entity ...

of the namesake telecommunications company. It is located in Gran Via 28. At the time of construction it was the tallest

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an skyscraper with 89 m of roof height, until in 1940, when the Terrazza Martini Tower opened in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

History

The Telefónica Building was designed by Ignacio de Cárdenas, who conceived it after a previous study of Louis S. Weeks in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. Even though the building is of American inspiration, Cárdenas touch can be felt in its churrigueresque exterior ornamentation, a nod to Madrid

Baroque architecture Baroque architecture is a highly decorative and theatrical style which appeared in Italy in the late 16th century and gradually spread across Europe. It was originally introduced by the Catholic Church, particularly by the Jesuits, as a means to ...

. Its construction started in 1926 and it was fully completed in March 1929, despite opening its doors officially on 1 January 1930. The workforce was composed of more than 1000 workers and the final cost added up to 32 million pesetas. It became one of the first skyscrapers in Europe. It also held the Madrid height record by surpassing the Palacio de la Prensa, which it maintained until it was overtaken in 1953 by the

Edificio España The Hotel Riu Plaza España is a historic skyscraper, the 8th tallest building in Madrid, Spain. It opened in 1953 as the Edificio España (), a mixed-use structure containing a hotel, offices, apartments and shops. It is an example of 20th-centur ...

. During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

it was used as an observatory by the Republican forces to watch the whereabouts of Francoist troops. This reason, and the fact of being the Office of Foreign Press, made it a target of bombings during the war.

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...

John Dos Passos John Roderigo Dos Passos (; January 14, 1896 – September 28, 1970) was an American novelist, most notable for his U.S.A. (trilogy), ''U.S.A.'' trilogy. Born in Chicago, Dos Passos graduated from Harvard College in 1916. He traveled widely as a ...

and

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, vicomte de Saint-Exupéry (29 June 1900 – 31 July 1944), known simply as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (, , ), was a French writer, poet, journalist and aviator. Born in Lyon to an French nobility, aristocratic ...

sent their reports from inside the premises, controlled by the Republican foreign press censhorship office, whose head was Arturo Barea.

Skyline

The Telefónica Building rises to 89 metres. It comprises 14 high-ceiling floors plus a basement, a semibasement and a central tower, which is currently topped by mobile communication antennas. It can be seen from many places in Madrid city centre. From 1967 to 2013, its red lit clock has become a landmark at dusk and night. From 1 July 2013, the colour of the clock is blue to better accommodate the

Telefónica , S.A. () is a Spanish multinational telecommunications company with registered office and headquarters located in two different places, both in Madrid, Spain. It is one of the largest telephone operators and mobile network providers in the ...

corporate brand. It prevails as the tallest building in Gran Vía, with the exception of Edificio España and the Torre de Madrid at the end of Gran Vía.

Nowadays

It currently hosts the Telefónica Foundatio

a Telecommunications Museum and an

auditorium An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoriums can be found in entertainment venues, community halls, and t ...

. The Foundation hosts numerous art events and talks by renowned creators such as Vanessa Murrell, Johanna Jaskowska, Guillermo Arriaga,

Afua Hirsch Afua Hirsch Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, FRSL (born 1981) is a British writer and broadcaster. She has worked as a journalist for ''The Guardian'' newspaper, and was the Social Affairs and Education Editor for Sky News from 2014 un ...

, Suzy Amis Cameron,

Saskia Sassen Saskia Sassen (born January 5, 1947) is a Dutch-American sociologist noted for her analyses of globalization and international human migration. She is a professor of sociology at Columbia University in New York City, and the London School of Eco ...

and

Richard Sennett Richard Sennett (born 1 January 1943) is an American sociologist who is the Centennial Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics and former University Professor of the Humanities at New York University. He is currently a Senior F ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Telefonica Building Skyscraper office buildings in Madrid Office buildings completed in 1929 Gran Vía (Madrid) Buildings and structures in Universidad neighborhood, Madrid