Page 122 - 360.revista de Alta Velocidad - Nº 6

Ayrault Pérez, Juan

7.5 Beyond the Golden Triangle

The influence of the Golden Triangle went much beyond the ‘noble’ Prado Avenue. A secondary
axis took progressively shape along the formerly industrial Ronda de Atocha. Some prestigious
institutions were housed in refurbished industrial or office buildings.

Circo Price occupied the former PACISA cookies factory. It was the first building dedicated to
circus shows after the disappearance of the former Price circus in 1970.

Figures 51‐52‐53: La Casa Encendida, Circo Price, Tabacalera.
Source: www.wwwlacasaencendida.es ‐ diario.madrid.es – www.elpais.com

A private savings bank sponsored the culture centre La Casa Encendida in a former banking
office.
Nearby, since 2003 the self‐managed Tabacalera culture centre runs in an old tobacco factory,
a magnificent example of 18th century industrial building.

7.6 Accomodation

The effect of Atocha area urban
renovation on accommodation
facilities was revolutionary. One of the
oldest hotels in town, the Mediodía,
the worst affected by the building
of the road bridge a few meters far
from its balconies, caught its breath
again and was refurbished. Hotel
Nacional, closed since the late 70’s,
was renovated and reopened almost
twenty years later, in 1995, stimulated
by the opening of the HS line.
Figure 54: Hotel Nacional. Newspapers mentioned that the
Source: https://www.booking.com/hotel/es/nhnacional.es.html refurbishment addressed to ‘clients
from Seville’, with no prospect of the
much further horizon that HS would bring to Madrid transportation. Other hotels followed:
Rafael Atocha in 1998 and AC Atocha in 2009 were set on the western side (calle Méndez
Alvaro), a former industrial area under renovation. Hotel Paseo del Arte in Atocha Street,
besides the Nacional, took its name in 2003 from the new brand of the area.
NH Atocha opened in the eastern side, near the Ministry of Environment. Besides, Only You
Hotel Atocha occupied as recently as 2016 an old apartment building.
Summarizing, in the term of these past twenty‐five years, all accommodation facilities in the

120 360.revista de alta velocidad