España Boulevard

España Boulevard is an eight–lane major thoroughfare in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. It is named after Spain, the country that formerly held the Philippines as a colony for more than 300 years. True to its name, several Spanish names abound on the street. It starts in the east at the Welcome Rotonda near the boundary of Quezon City and Manila and ends in the west with a Y-intersection with Lerma and Nicanor Reyes Streets in Manila.

History

Before becoming what it is today, the boulevard was a part of the Hacienda de Sulucan, one of the ten barrios which formed Sampaloc. In 1694, the hacienda was donated to the sisters of the Monasterio de Santa Clara. In 1905, it was turned over to the Sulucan Development Corporation. The road was constructed in 1913 as an access road to Sulucan, under the condition of being named "España".

The boulevard was once part of Quezon Boulevard, and it is part of the national road plan to connect the government center of Manila in Rizal Park to the proposed new capital on the Diliman estate.

Notable landmarks

España Boulevard is an east–west artery in Manila. It connects Lerma and Nicanor Reyes (formerly Morayta) streets of Sampaloc district at the west end to the Mabuhay (or Welcome) Rotonda, Quezon City at the east end. The entire street is straddled by a center island, only broken at major intersections and the railroad crossing. Vehicles can make a left-turn only on two intersections: southward to Lacson Avenue and at the western terminus to Nicanor Reyes Street. España Boulevard is long.

España Boulevard's north side is westbound (Manila-bound), while the south side is eastbound (Quezon City-bound). Buses, taxis, jeepneys, cabriolets, and UV Express vehicles serve commuters.

Quezon City

At the eastern terminus is the Welcome Rotonda, also called the Mabuhay Rotonda, which connects España Boulevard with Quezon Avenue, Eulogio Rodriguez, Sr. Avenue, and Mayon. Quezon Avenue leads to EDSA and ultimately to the Quezon Memorial Circle. E. Rodriguez, Sr. Avenue leads to the Cubao district of Quezon City, a popular shopping place. Mayon leads to A. Bonifacio Avenue and ultimately to the North Luzon Expressway.

Manila

The first major intersection is Blumentritt Road. The Philippine National Railways tracks cross the boulevard between Antipolo and Algeciras streets. The España railway station is also located here. Between Lacson Avenue and Padre Noval Street is the main campus of the University of Santo Tomas.

España Boulevard ends at the junction of Nicanor Reyes (formerly called Morayta) and Lerma Streets. Nicanor Reyes Street leads to Claro M. Recto Avenue, while Lerma Street, on the other hand, leads to Quezon Boulevard.

Notable events

España Boulevard is infamous for its floods during the rainy season. This is because it serves as a catch basin for runoff water from higher-elevated Quezon City, as Sampaloc was a swamp marsh area. It is common to find people wading in waist-deep floods, especially when a typhoon passes through Manila, causing class suspensions.

On August 31, 1983, Marcos opposition figure and former senator Benigno Aquino Jr.'s funeral procession passed through España on its way to Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque from Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City. It was joined by millions of Filipinos. Fernando Poe, Jr.'s funeral procession also passed through España on its way to Manila North Cemetery from the same church on December 22, 2004. As many as 3 million people took part in the funeral procession.

A new mass-transit line has been planned several times to cross España Boulevard, the first one being called LRT Line 4 (the original plan of the current proposal in the 2020s), proposed in 1995 by the French consortium. The said line would traverse the boulevard until it reaches Batasan, then to Novaliches in Quezon City, which has been shelved in favor of the MRT Line 7 line that diverted and cut short the terminus at North Avenue. After the MRT-7 proposal was awarded, the plans were revived to create a separate line for the remainder of the alignment from the original LRT-4 proposal that the MRT-7 left out, which was named MRT-9 that was envisioned to traverse from Lerma to North Avenue. Subsequently, this was again shelved in favor of a bus rapid transit line that traverses from Lerma to UP Diliman but was again shelved now in favor of an unsolicited proposal put up by the Philippine National Railways (PNR) and Alloy MTD using the same remaining LRT-4 and BRT alignment with the working project name "PNR East-West Rail" and is believed to be officially numbered Line 8, should the proposal push through. Currently, there are no plans for the elevated railway system.

In 2025, under Marcos' leadership, the DOTr secretary Vince Dizon announced that España would feature its own busway system, marking the reintroduction of the bus rapid transit (BRT) system.

The boulevard also provides access to NLEX Connector (formerly NLEX–SLEX Connector Road) via Antipolo Street onto España Exit.

The house of the longest-serving Mayor of Manila, Ramon Bagatsing, is on Kundiman Street, on the boulevard's north side. Many people used to flock to his residence as it was open to all his constituents, becoming the de facto public service assistance center for Manila's poor and underprivileged. Today, the Bagatsing compound extends to the parallel Craig Street.

España is also frequently used by anti-government protesters as a gathering area due to its proximity to Mendiola, which ends at Malacañan Palace, the presidential residence.

Intersections

Landmarks

From east to west:

* Sun Residences
* Espaňa station
* Ramon Magsaysay High School, Manila
* University of Santo Tomas

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Espana Boulevard
University of Santo Tomas
Streets in Manila
Boulevards
Sampaloc, Manila