At the beginning of the 18th century, Madrid It was a thriving city, the court generated a great economic movement and some commercial activities were greatly favored by these sumptuous expenses. This situation led to the Madrid guilds dedicated to silk, drapery, lingerie, jewelry and haberdashery joining together, constituting the so-called Five Major Guilds Madrid.

They have always been talked about as a pre-capitalist institution that began to generate another way of doing business, which was separating itself from the artisanal concept. In 1763 they formed the General Commercial Company seeking internationalization, with the support of the Crown. There was a very close relationship and the Company took care of the costs of the works on the new Paseo del Prado designed by José de Hermosilla. We leave it to history whether or not there were counterparts, but the situation sounds familiar, right?

The Company decided to build a new headquarters. In 1788 the architect was commissioned José de la Ballina the construction project, on a plot of land between Atocha Street and the missing Plazas de la Leña and Aduana Vieja, today Calle de la Bolsa and Plaza de Jacinto Benavente.

The construction of the House of the Five Major Guilds of Madrid began in 1789. A neoclassical building with three facades in which the stone of the ground floor, the openings and the pediments alternate with brick panels.
The 1846th century and its changes did not suit the company; the decline of the guilds was rapid. Since XNUMX it was limited exclusively to the manufacture and sale of silk and wool fabrics under the name of Sociedad Fabril y Comercial de los Gremios, with the factories of Talavera and Ezcaray.

The house of the five guilds went to public auction, and the property was acquired by the Bank of Isabel II. The merger between this bank and its namesake in San Fernando in 1847 led to the creation of the new Banco Español de San Fernando. This new bank that is the precedent of the Bank of Spain, nationalized by the law of March 19, 1874, was installed in the house of the five guilds until it moved in 1891 to its new headquarters in Plaza de la Cibeles.
The General Directorate of Public Debt has had its offices for a long time, we see that although the unions no longer exist, the house is still linked to money.

A abrazo.