Tabakalera is a former tobacco factory in

San Sebastián San Sebastián, officially known by the bilingual name Donostia / San Sebastián (, ), is a city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, from the France–Spain border ...

Basque Autonomous Community Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous com ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, which was converted into a contemporary culture centre. Located in the Egia district of San Sebastián, next to the Estación del Norte railway station and the Cristina Enea Park, it takes up one of the biggest plots (13.277 m²) of the urban area. Logo Tabakalera

History

As an active tobacco factory

For 90 years (1913–2003) Tabakalera was a tobacco factory. It was one of the main employers in San Sebastián and most of the workers were women. The building took the name of the enterprise that managed the tobacco production in Spain until the privatisation process that converted Tabacalera into

Altadis Altadis is a Spanish-French multinational purveyor and manufacturer of cigarettes, tobacco and cigars. It was formed via a 1999 merger between Tabacalera, the former Spanish tobacco monopoly and , the former French tobacco monopoly. Through its ...

Closure and use as a cultural centre

In 2003 the factory was closed by

. A year later, in 2004, the

City Council, the Provincial Council of

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...

and the

Basque Government The Basque Government (, ; ) is the governing body of the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain. The head of the Basque government is known as the '' Lehendakari''. The Lehendakari is appointed by the Basque Parliament every four years, after a re ...

bought the building in order to transform it into the International Centre for Contemporary Culture of San Sebastián. Since 2007 Tabakalera organised a wide sort of activities. Exhibitions like ''Summer'' by

Julian Schnabel Julian Schnabel (born October 26, 1951) is an American painter and filmmaker. In the 1980s, he received international attention for his "plate paintings"—with broken ceramic plates set onto large-scale paintings. Since the 1990s, he has been a ...

(2007), ''No es Neutral'' (2008), ''Egiatik'' (2008) and ''Look Again'' (2009) or experimental shortfilm screenings like ''LABO'', in collaboration with

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, , ; or simply ; ) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population of 147,284 (2020). Its metropolitan area () had 504,157 inhabitants at the 2018 ...

Festival.

Renovation and renewed cultural use

In 2010, refurbishment works began in the building. On September 11, 2015, the renovated building was inaugurated. The building contains exhibition halls, a multi-purpose plaza, a multi-purpose hall, a cinema theatre, a creation library called Ubik, media labs called Hirikilabs, spaces for art creation, a cafeteria called Taba, a residence for artists, and a four-star hotel, called One Shot Tabakalera House. It also hosts the headquarters of local culture institutions Kutxa Kultur, the Basque Film Archive, the

San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; , ) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spain, Spanish city of Donostia, Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Countr ...

, the Elías Querejeta Film School and the Etxepare Basque Institute.

Gallery

File:HORIZONTALAK IMG 9896.JPG, Tabakalera from Cristina Enea Park. File:Tabakalera fatxada albotik.jpg, Tabakalera from Duque de Mandas Street. File:Plaza copia.jpg, Tabakalera plaza. File:Terraza01.JPG, View of San Sebastián from the Terrace.

References

External links

Official website
Buildings and structures in San Sebastián Arts centres in Spain Cinemas in Spain Tourist attractions in the Basque Country (autonomous community) Tobacco buildings {{Basque-struct-stub