Architectural History Reborn

The Centro Canalejas building, housing Four Seasons Hotel Madrid with its rooftop restaurant by Spanish celebrity chef Dani García, Four Seasons Private Residences Madrid, and La Galería de Canalejas luxury shopping mall, is housed in a collection of seven historical buildings located right in the heart of the centre of the Spanish capital. Just steps from Kilómetro Cero, or Kilometre Zero, the point from which all distances are measured in Spain, the building has been a significant part of the city for the more than 100 years that it has been standing.

Located between Puerta del Sol and the Barrio de Las Letras, this part of the city has been a centre of commerce, trade, social activity and government since the mid-1800s. What was once a fairly cramped district saw a reinvention in the 1890s with the completion of a project to widen the Calle Sevilla, flanking one side of Four Seasons Hotel Madrid today, opening up the thoroughfare into a comfortable, wide street, filled with light and a pleasant atmosphere for pedestrians. This involved the modification of a crossroads known as Cuatro Calles (Four Streets) into the circular Plaza Canalejas that we know today, named after former Prime Minister of the Spanish Government José Canalejas, who was murdered in 1912. This rejuvenation project was a precursor to the current works underway today, which aim to open up the area and create a new zone with wider pedestrian areas, outside terraces, the first retail space of its kind in Madrid, and the accommodations, meeting spaces, food and beverage outlets and social areas of Four Seasons Hotel Madrid.