The Spanish Navy's headquarters was relocated to the Paseo del Prado because the Godoy Palace, which had functioned as the Ministry of the Navy headquarters, was in a state of disrepair by 1915. Gabino Bugallal Araújo, the Minister of Finance, proposed to King Alfonso XIII the construction of a new headquarters.
Architects José Espelius and Francisco Javier de Luque designed the neo-gothic building. Construction began in 1925 on land belonging to the Buen Retiro gardens, and the building was inaugurated on July 16, 1928. It features a historicist-style main façade and a modern section on its southeast corner.
Today, the headquarters houses the Office of the Chief of Staff of the Navy, the Information Systems and Telecommunications Department, and the Legal Advisory Office of the Navy Headquarters. It also contains the Naval History and Culture Organ and the Central Naval Security Section.
Visitors can enter the Naval Museum, which occupies part of the building, through an entrance located on the ground floor of the modern section of the southeast corner.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nik Frost
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