In the urban landscape of Madrid, where the beach has always been an impossible dream, the Stella Swimming Pool-Club stands as one of the great symbols of leisure and modernity in the capital during the twentieth century. Located on Arturo Soria Street, a few meters from the M-30, this pool of rationalist lines and marine evocation was for decades the summer refuge of Madrid’s elite and international celebrities. Today, however, the Stella is one of the most spectacular and melancholic abandoned places in the city, a victim of oblivion and the passage of time.
A yacht club in the heart of Madrid
The history of the Stella Swimming Pool begins in 1947, when the architect Fermín Moscoso del Prado designed this building at the request of Manuel Pérez-Vizcaíno, owner of the estate and visionary who wanted to provide Madrid with a social club on a par with the great European leisure centers. The Stella was not only a swimming pool: its design imitated the nautical clubs of the coast, with a white building with clean, modern lines, extensive gardens and exclusive services that included a hairdresser, gymnasium, dance floor, restaurant, bar, bowling alley and even bingo.
The success was immediate: in the 50’s and 60’s, the Stella had over a thousand visitors a day in the summer months, and its solarium was frequented by artists such as Ava Gardner, Antonio Machín, aristocrats, soccer players and members of the national and international jet set. Rumor has it that this was a small oasis of freedom in Franco’s Madrid, where not only the bikini was worn, but toplessness and nudism had a place.
The decline and abandonment of the Stella pool
From the 1980s onwards, the Stella Swimming Pool began to lose prominence in the face of the rise of private pools and the new municipal facilities, which were more accessible and economical. The club, which had been a symbol of openness and sophistication during the dictatorship, could not compete with the new times and in 2006 it closed its doors for good. Since then, the building has experienced a progressive deterioration: vegetation invades the gardens, the whiteness of the facade has surrendered to pollution and graffiti, and even the emblematic “STELLA” sign has lost most of its letters.
Despite being protected by a special City Hall plan since 2011, which prevents its demolition or modification, the lack of agreement between the heirs of the original owner, the difficulty in finding a buyer and the absence of investment have condemned the Stella to a slow agony. The building, which occupies almost 9,000 square meters, remains closed and uninhabited, converted into an “urban corpse” that only revives in the memory of those who knew it in its splendor.