*3.2. The Cuatro Torres Project*

The Cuatro Torres skyscrapers stand on the grounds occupied since 1963 by the Real Madrid football club sports complex on 14 ha of land on the northern extension of La Castellana, expropriated by the City Council and sold to the Club. At the time, the press discussed the Club's early attempts to modify the urban provisions of the PGOU of 1963 to include lucrative land uses, as well as the former landowners' intention to demand the restitution of the property, or an indemnification, in the event that authorisation should be given to works not exclusively dedicated to sports activities.

By the end of the 1990s, stakeholders wishing to transform the sports city grounds had begun to prepare the necessary conditions to achieve this goal. As a first step, the Community of Madrid and the City Council purchased three hectares of land from the football club in 1996 with the goal of enlarging the system of public facilities in the area. Second, in 2001, all three owners concluded an agreement to boost Madrid's candidacy for hosting the 2012 Olympic Games [33]. A third step involved modifying the 1997 PGOU and re-classifying the Real Madrid premises for tertiary use with a buildable floor area of 225,000 m2, and an Olympic sports hall was planned on the public land. Political groups in opposition and the citizen's platform "Contra las Torres del Nudo Norte" spoke out against these actions to no avail. The transformation of private land, the *Cuatro* Torres project, was performed in record time and completed in 2009.

The enclave was thus consolidated as the city's leading business complex and international trading centre. The towers, ranging from 49 to 56 storeys high, dominate the *Madrid skyline* (Figure 2).

**Figure 2.** View of Cuatro Torres from the northern Paseo de la Castellana [34]. Copyright 2008 Eurostarshoteles.

Of this skyscraper complex, Real Madrid was entitled to two complete buildings and more than one half of a third, which it shares with the Community of Madrid, while the fourth building was awarded to the City Council. The operation yielded multi-million capital gains for all three landowners. The floor space in the future high-rise buildings was sold to important companies in the leading economic sectors, who brought in world-class architects to design their facilities. Torre Espacio was purchased by the real estate developer Espacio (OHL group) and designed by Henry N. Coob. Torre Cepsa was acquired by the Caja Madrid financial corporation and built by Norman Foster. Torre Cristal, shared by the club and the Community of Madrid, was purchased by the insurance company Mutua Madrileña who commissioned the project to César Pelli. The City Council sold its rights to Torre PWC, built by Carlos Rubio Carvajal and Enrique Álvarez Sala, and to the construction firm and developer Sacyr. Over time, with the exception of Torre Cristal which has remained the property of its original owner, the buildings have changed hands: Torre Espacio now belongs to the Philippine group Emperador, Torre Cepsa to the Pontegadea group, and Torre PWC to the real estate investment trust (REIT) Merlin Properties.

A fifth tower, Torre Caleido, is currently under construction on the community services land that was left undeveloped. In 2015, the City Council leased this land for 75 years to the Villar Mir industrial and real estate group and the Philippine company Emperador. This 36 storey building is the design of Fenwich & Iribarren Architects and is set to house a university campus dedicated to health-related studies, as well as a spacious shopping and leisure complex.

The impact of the Cuatro Torres development will reach beyond the central area, affecting the northeastern periphery of the city. The agreement signed in 2001 stipulated that the City Council would build a new sports complex for the Real Madrid football club on land in Valdebebas, near Barajas airport, previously earmarked for an airport complex. The land was obtained after the City Council accepted its owners' demands for a major part of the envisaged 'airport city' to be re-classified from tertiary to residential use. However, the favours granted to the club did not end here: before the new plan for Valdebebas was approved, permission was irregularly given in 2006 for the first phase of the construction of the sports complex.
