remembering the past

REMEMBERING THE PAST
TO LOOK TOWARDS THE FUTURE

The city block defined by Alcalá and Sevilla streets and the Carrera de San Jerónimo have always been sociable,
dynamic and bustling spaces in Madrid. A privileged zone of the city whose chronicle narrates one of the most
memorable pages of the construction of Madrid. Therefore, knowing the evolution of this urban space means knowing
the story of the city and its inhabitants.

CONSTRUCTING
THE NEW MADRID

Between 1867 and 1885, the City Hall implemented a process of redevelopment of the centre of Madrid to adapt it to the new needs of vehicular traffic and to bring some of the streets up to the standards of a European capital.

To resolve the intersection with Príncipe and De la Cruz streets, Plaza de las Cuatro Calles, currently Plaza Canalejas and today the site of Centro Canalejas Madrid, was created.

This operation, undertaken several years after the transformation of the Puerta del Sol, represented an additional step in the process of dignifying the historic centre, which was epitomised by the opening of the Gran Vía in 1910.

Alcalá 14
Canalejas 1
Alcalá 12
Alcalá 10
Alcalá 8
Alcalá 6

Alcalá 14

A FEAST
FOR THE EYES

Carriages, trolleys and cars for decades streamed past the façade of this majestic building. Protagonist of the intersection of Alcalá and Sevilla, it got its name, Palacio de La Equitativa, from the important insurance company that commissioned its construction and established its headquarters there.

In January of 1887, work on the palace commenced, a commission awarded to José Grases Riera, a prolific Modernist architect of the day. The building was inaugurated in 1891 and became an architectural landmark in the capital, on the same level as the most important buildings of the era.

Within its historic walls, the Palacio de la Equitativa has been home to, besides the insurance company, the “El Heraldo” newspaper, whose salon represented the cultural clout of Madrid in that era, the Casino de Madrid, the most important shops, cafés and, starting in 1920, the Banco Español de Crédito, which acquired the building and made some changes to adapt it. These modifications and a second enlargement in 1945 were what tarnished its splendour, particularly that of the interior.

In the mid-1990s, it became the property of Banco Santander, which purchased the building in 1994 and undertook a new overall renovation to modernise the facilities and enlarge the offices to create open spaces where formerly none had existed.

Canalejas 1

Alcalá 12

Alcalá 10

Alcalá 8

Alcalá 6

THE CONDITION OF THE BUILDINGS
BEFORE CENTRO CANALEJAS MADRID

The passage of time, the varying uses of the buildings and the changes that these required progressively modified the interior of this architectural complex, obscuring the most striking features of its grandiose past.

Recovering that lost beauty is the main objective of Centro Canalejas Madrid. To do so, extensive research was done in order to preserve and restore the most important pieces and, to the extent possible, return them to their original locations.