Palacio de Congresos (Madrid)
Convention center in Madrid, Spain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Palacio de Congresos de Madrid,[1] also known as Palacio de Congresos or Palacio de Congresos y Exposiciones, is a convention centre in Madrid, Spain. Located in the Paseo de la Castellana, it is unused since 2012. The building's façade prominently displays a ceramic mosaic reproducing a work by Joan Miró.
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- Palacio de Congresos
- Palacio de Congresos y Exposiciones
| Palacio de Congresos de Madrid | |
|---|---|
| |
 Interactive map of the Palacio de Congresos de Madrid area | |
| Alternative names |
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| General information | |
| Type | Convention centre |
| Location | Paseo de la Castellana, 99, 28046, Madrid, Spain |
| Current tenants | None |
| Opened | 1 June 1970 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Pablo Pintado Riba |
History
The building's plot lies on the intersection of the Paseo de la Castellana with the Avenida del General Perón, in the Cuatro Caminos neighborhood, Tetuán district.[2] It was designed by Pablo Pintado y Riba, who was awarded with the tender in 1964.[3][4] It was inaugurated on 1 June 1970.[5] On 25 November 1972, the auditorium hosted the first edition of the OTI Festival.[6] A large ceramic mosaic created by Joan Gardy Artigas based on a sketch by Joan Miró was added to the façade.[7] The renovation was inaugurated on 5 October 1980 by Mayor Enrique Tierno Galván.[7]
The Palacio de Congresos hosted the press centre of the 1982 FIFA World Cup, for which a temporary skyway across La Castellana to connect the building to the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium was built and then dismantled.[4] The Goya Awards were celebrated at the congress centre since the second edition in 1988 until they moved to the Palacio Municipal de Congresos,[8] in Campo de las Naciones. The building closed in late 2012 to remedy deficiencies in security.[9] It has been unused from then on.
Mayors Manuela Carmena and José Luis Martínez-Almeida have asked for the building's reopening.[10] A 2018 agreement to transfer the building's management to IFEMA did not come to fruition.[10] A viability plan published in 2020 by Turespaña, the Spanish government agency for tourism promotion, contemplated a 40-year lease, presumably to host the headquarters of the UN's World Tourism Organization (UNWTO),[11][12] currently located in the neighbouring Calle del Poeta Joan Maragall.
