COLLECTION OF IMAGES OF THE BANK OF SPAIN

COLLECTION OF IMAGES OF THE BANK OF SPAIN

The first stone of the building Bank of Spain It was put on July 4, 1884, with the presence of the king Alfonso XII and the building was inaugurated in 1891. At that time the Plaza de Cibeles It was called Plaza de Madrid.

The bank had been changing headquarters and the process of designing the building was complex. After a first in which none of the projects presented were to the liking of the Bank's Board, the final project for the Headquarters was approved in 1883. It had been drawn up by the Bank's own architects, Eduardo Adaro y Severiano Sainz de la Lastra after studying other European bank buildings, but it was not finally executed either.

The Bank was expanded, a first expansion began in 1927 with a project by the Bank's architect. José Yarnoz Larrosa. In 1969,  Javier Yarnoz Orcoyen, son of the architect of the previous renovation, undertook the second expansion.

The third and last expansion began to take shape in the 70s. The aim was to complete the building with the corner of Alcalá and Marqués de Cubas streets. The idea was to close a block for security reasons. The Bank had already acquired, in 1950, the building next to its headquarters. In 1978, an ideas competition was held and a group of architects were invited.

A year later and with the advice of a commission made up of representatives of the Madrid City Council, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando and Official College of Architects of Madrid, the Bank's Executive Council elected Rafael Moneo. But it was not that simple, the work could not be undertaken because the property was subject to protection.

In 1997, the General Urban Planning Plan of Madrid was approved, which established the planning of the Bank's area. Moneo reviewed its project in 2002 and in 2003, the result of an agreement signed between Madrid City Council and the Bank of Spain, the last expansion began.

In 2006, coinciding with the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the name Bank of Spain, the expansion was inaugurated.

From the beginning, the building sought a solid image. The floor plan is distributed in bays parallel to a series of patios aligned with the axes of Paseo del Prado and Alcalá. The facades with an eclectic decoration balance solid plinths and ground floors, which accentuate the idea of ​​solidity that corresponds to the institution it represents.

Today it is a very recognizable sight of the center of Madrid and it takes many of the tourists' photos in the Plaza de Cibeles.