Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
Telefónica building, Gran Vía
Madrid (Centro) · City site
The story
Madrid's first skyscraper (1929) was the tallest building in the city and the Republic's eye over the front: from its upper floors observers watched Nationalist movements in the Casa de Campo. It housed the telephone exchange and the Foreign Press Office, where correspondents such as Hemingway and Dos Passos filed censored reports. That made it a target: Nationalist guns on the Garabitas hill hit it again and again (over 120 impacts in October 1936 alone, according to the company's history), but the exchange never stopped working. The stretch of Gran Vía outside became known as 'Shell Alley'.
What you can see today
The restored tower dominates Gran Vía; the Espacio Fundación Telefónica inside hosts free exhibitions.
Plan your visit
Espacio Fundación Telefónica (entrance on Calle Fuencarral) is free, Tuesday–Sunday. Metro Gran Vía.
- Open
- Tue–Fri 10:00–20:00; Sat, Sun & holidays 11:00–20:00; closed Mondays, 25 Dec, 1 & 6 Jan
- Price
- Free
- Booking
- Groups of more than 10 must book
- Access
- Step-free, lift, adapted toilets, wheelchair available, hearing loop
Checked September 2026 from official sources: espacio.fundaciontelefonica.com. Things change, so check before you travel.
Sources
- esmadrid.com/en/tourist-information/telefonica-building
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telefónica_Building
- es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edificio_Telefónica
Nearby sites
- Templo de Debod — site of the Cuartel de la Montaña · 1 km
- Museo Reina Sofía — Picasso's Guernica · 1 km
- Arco de la Victoria (Moncloa) · 2 km
- Parque del Oeste bunkers · 3 km
- Puente de los Franceses · 3 km
- Ciudad Universitaria front · 3 km
All 158 sites in Spanish Civil War 1936–1939 →
The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
A free field guide for your phone: the route, the maps and the stories built in, even with no signal. The battlefields, trenches, ruined villages, shelters, museums and memorials of the Spanish Civil War across the whole of Spain, told fairly from both sides.
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