The Bank of Spain Building (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

: ''edificio del Banco de España'') is the main headquarters of the

Bank of Spain The Bank of Spain (, ) is the national central bank for Spain within the Eurosystem. It was the Spanish central bank from 1874 to 1998, issuing the peseta. Since 2014, it has also been Spain's national competent authority within European Banki ...

. Located in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, it lies at the crossing of the

Calle de Alcalá Calle de Alcalá is among the longest streets in Madrid. It starts at the Puerta del Sol and goes on for , to the northeastern outskirts of the city. Henry David Inglis described it in 1837 as "long, of superb width, and flanked by a splendid rang ...

and the

Paseo del Prado The Paseo del Prado is one of the main boulevards in Madrid, Spain. It runs north–south between the Plaza de Cibeles and the Plaza del Emperador Carlos V (also known as Plaza de Madrid Atocha railway station, Atocha), with the Plaza de Cánov ...

History

Works started on 4 July 1884, following a project by and . Finished by 1891, the building was inaugurated on 3 March 1891. The building endured a first enlargement process between 1932 and 1936. Further renovations were finished in 1969 and 2006. In December 1999, the building was declared

Property of Cultural Interest Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, re ...

, under the ''Monument'' descriptor. The building houses 280 tonnes of the Spanish gold reserve. This gold reserve is protected by a complex mechanism and is placed 37 meters underground. The security system includes three armored doors, a trench with a one-person wide bridge, and a water-flooding system that uses the water from two adjacent rivers that go below the Cibeles fountain, located next to the bank's building. The building was to be used as a film location for the third season of the Spanish series

Money Heist ''Money Heist'' (, , ) is a Spanish heist crime drama television series created by Álex Pina. The series traces two long-prepared heists led by the Professor ( Álvaro Morte), one on the Royal Mint of Spain, and one on the Bank of Spain, ...

, but due to this security system, it was decided to be filmed in the Spanish Ministry of Development.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * Economy of Madrid Buildings and structures in Cortes neighborhood, Madrid Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in Madrid Calle de Alcalá Bank of Spain {{Madrid-struct-stub