Spanish monuments that never existed
Many Spanish monuments are famous around the world: Seville’s Plaza de España, Madrid’s Puerta de Alcalá, Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia… but Spain could have had even more spectacular monuments if the building plans for them had been carried out. Here are a few:
- Monument to Columbus in Madrid: Designers hoped this impressive attraction would rival Paris’ famous Eiffel Tower. What did the project involve? Around 1892, an enormous 200 meter globe of the world was to be built in Retiro Park. A 700 meter long walkway would run around the equator line from which visitors could view the surrounding scenery. A 100 meter tall metal structure was to hold it all in place. By the end of the 19th century however, Spain was no longer a world power and it could no longer afford these types of extra expenses.
- Chillida in Tindaya Project: this controversial 1993 project by the sculptor Eduardo Chillida included hollowing out part of Tindaya Mountain on Fuerteventura (Canary Island) to create a gigantic empty cube-space. Given various developmental problems and protesting by environmentalist groups, the project has been stopped and it doesn’t seem that it will ever be carried out.
- Catedral neogótica de la Almudena: Many Madrid residents refer to the Cathedral of Almudena as “the cream pie” because of its shape and the mix of styles it displays (building on the cathedral began in 1879 and did not conclude until 1993). The building we see today looks very different than Marqués de Cubas’ originally planned neo-gothic cathedral.
- Hotel Attraction: this monument wasn’t planned to stand in Spain at all but in New York. Since Antonio Gaudí was to be the designer, who was perhaps one of Spanish history’s most famous architects, we think it’s worth mentioning. Gaudí received the commission in 1908 from two American entrepreneurs: a great construction measuring 360 meters in height and made up of organic, winding forms. This massive cross between the Casa Batlló, the Colonia Güell, and the Sagrada Familia never ended up being carried out as the architectural genius was immersed in a number of other projects.
There are plenty of other interesting projects that never ended up being built which you can find on the internet. It’s worth taking a look to see plans for monuments that could have ended up being important Spanish attractions.