Edificio de las Cariátides

The Edificio de las Cariátides in Madrid is a historic office building designed by the architects Antonio Palacios and Joaquín Otamendi and opened in 1918. It is considered the first purely office building in the Spanish capital and marks an architectural turning point, as it stands apart from the bank and church buildings that dominated at the time. The building was originally constructed as the headquarters of the Banco Español del Río de la Plata and stands on the former site of the Palacio del Marqués de Casa-Irujo. Its design follows a diaphanous model inspired by American examples, with a large, open interior courtyard on the ground floor for banking business and several floors of offices. Eye-catching features include the exposed metal beams that support the large interior spaces, as well as the distinctive caryatids on the facade that give the building its name.

Over the decades, ownership changed several times. After the merger with the Central Bank, the building served as its headquarters before later becoming part of the Banco Central Hispano and finally of the Santander Group. During this period, the architect Manuel Cabanyes extended the building toward Calle Barquillo, though this did not fully respect the original architectural continuity. Today, the landmark building is the headquarters of the Instituto Cervantes, a cultural institution of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since 2006, in addition to the administrative offices, it has also housed exhibition spaces and a large auditorium seating up to 1,200 people. Visitors can experience the building as a place of culture and exchange, where the historic facade meets the institute's modern functions.