If you are passionate about horror movies, if you are fascinated by scary stories and you recreate yourself with the mysterious places of your city, this is your article. Madrid is full of urban legends, some more accurate than others, of course. Many of them have their own stage: that of these places that, today, remain abandoned to their fate.
do you want to be a little scared wherever you are? Stop by and read.
The Hexagon Pavilion
It was the first prize at the Universal Exposition in Brussels in 1958, but for decades, this pavilion has been abandoned at the Casa de Campo fairgrounds. In its heyday, the structure had a futuristic hexagonal design. A structure easily, despite the degradation of the building.
The walls of the pavilion are chipped and covered with graffiti. At night it wouldn’t be a bad set to shoot a scene from Stranger Things, really. Fortunately, the City Council has already begun renovation work on a third part of the building, which it expects to finish in September, after which it will open a temporary exhibition. We will have to wait two more years to see the complete overhaul.
📍 Casa de Campo, Madrid
Sanatorio de La Marina
The first sensation when you stand in front of this creepy building is that of being inside a horror movie. This giant sanatorium, built in 1956, is located in the Sierra de Guadarrama, specifically in the town of Los Molinos. For decades it functioned, like so many other hospitals in the community, as a center for the hospitalization of tuberculosis patients.
Despite the fact that it has no great horror stories and has been a reference as a health center, the human interventions that can be seen both outside and inside the building give it a rather spooky appearance.
📍 Los Molinos
The Colegio Mayor San Juan Evangelista
El Johny, as it was known, was a mythical place in Madrid where music geniuses such as Paco de Lucía or Silvio Rodríguez passed through. But their times of splendor are so far behind that few remember them. Since 2014, this residence, owned by the Complutense University, has been neglected.
During the last seven years, the building has entered a spiral of degradation: it has been occupied, and the raves and brawls have been constant. The fight club was not far behind what has happened at the Johny, which is now completely empty, but is crying out for refurbishment, pending University funding for its rehabilitation.
📍 Avenida Gregorio del Amo, 4, Madrid
Former Radio Nacional building
Next to the Puerta de Arganda, on the way to Chinchón, the remains of what was once the headquarters of RNE’s shortwave radio station are still standing. Looking at its current state, it is hard to imagine that one day it became one of the most advanced radio station facilities in our country.
The building was part of other constructions that included another radio station, a water tank, warehouses and workers’ own homes. There are no known macabre stories or legends surrounding the old radio headquarters, but we do know that Arganda is home to three of the most important centers in the history of telecommunications in Spain.
📍 Road to Chinchón, Puerta de Arganda
Old Slaughterhouse
What is truly frightening about the former slaughterhouse is the garbage and debris that piles up in the protected area of the Parque del Sureste and now spoils the views of the municipality from the A-3. And it is the residents of Rivas Vaciamadrid themselves who are trying not to protect the old slaughterhouse in their town.
The large building, once owned by Campofrío, suffered a terrible fire in 2001. Many of the workers were killed on the spot and the fire left the main building completely burned. Years later, in 2011, the Civil Guard had to intervene in a rave organized in the vicinity of the building due to a confrontation between some of its participants.
📍 Rivas Vaciamadrid
The Bank of Madrid
You don’t have to go far to find another of the capital’s shadiest buildings. In the middle of the Plaza de Colón is located the old Banco de Madrid, small offices in relation to the adjacent buildings that have not been in operation for more than six years.
The exterior of the building is noticeably deteriorated, which fuels the worst omens. Between 2016 and 2018 it was occupied by the ultra-right-wing group Hogar Social Madrid, which claimed to “pretend to denounce” the financial oligarchies. This building should serve to pay a part of the debt that the Bank of Madrid had with its creditors, but for now no decision has been taken.
📍 Paseo de la Castellana, 2, Madrid
Canto del Pico Palace
This palace, located in Torrelodones, was built in 1920 as a house-museum by order of Count José María del Palacio, Count of Las Almenas. Once finished, it ended up becoming the home of Antonio Maura, President of the Government during the reign of Alfonso XIII. In December 1925, he died, already far from politics, while spending a few days of rest. During the Civil War it was used by the Republican side and then passed into Franco’s hands.
In the 80’s it was completely abandoned and, at the end of the 90’s, it suffered a fire that worsened its appearance even more. After the failed attempt to convert it into a museum, the town council has formed a committee to seek solutions to ensure the preservation of the palace.
📍 Torrelodones
Villa Menchu
Sixth Villa Menchu squat of the #ArturoSoriaconstruction site. And the @Cs_Madrid councilman mising. @MadridDirecto of @telemadrid tells it and @ALevySoler councilwoman of Culture of @MADRID does nothing either. https://t.co/wvM0fgb9Ql pic.twitter.com/2Kkk1I6WKP
– Pedro Blasco Solana (@pericoblasco) May 28, 2021
Few mansions are preserved today in the Zone of Arturo Soria, and if they do, it is barely. Villa Menchu is under siege by vandals, so much so that the owner of the building has had to hire a security guard, who must be well paid because the house is from the Warren File.
For the moment, the conservation of this mansion is the sole and exclusive responsibility of its owners, so the City Council has no jurisdiction. But according to the newspaper El Mundo, the area of Culture of the Consistory will ask to be included in the catalog of protected buildings.
📍 Arturo Soria, Madrid
Stella Swimming Pool
Another treasure of Arturo Soria is the Piscina Stella, next to the M-30, one of the clubs with pool with more solera of the capital during the twentieth century. The place where the Madrid jet set refreshed, and from time to time, scandalized. It was among the first places in Spain where the bikini and, later, the toppless made their debut.
In the absence of a buyer, the pool has been closed for a whopping 15 years. In this case, the building has been protected by a special plan since 2011, but it has not served to halt its deterioration and there are already some movie buffs who are beginning to compare it to the hotel in The Shining. So far, Jack Nicholson has not been spotted in the area, but Ava Gardner was tanning in her solarium, so don’t rule out his presence.
📍 Arturo Soria, Madrid
These are the horror movie sets in Madrid. Corners so mysterious that even Iker Jiménez would be repulsed by them. Our recommendation is that you enjoy it from a distance because they are abandoned, and if a ghost doesn’t appear, the roof might fall on you.
Clarification: an earlier version of the article included the village of “El Alamin”, which is not currently abandoned. It is a private property.