Moncloa Palace

The Palacio de la Moncloa is a building located in the northwest of Madrid (Spain), in the Moncloa-Aravaca district. It was built from 1949 to 1954 in the same place as the old Royal Site of Moncloa, destroyed during the Civil War. Since 1977 it has housed the headquarters of the Presidency of the Government of Spain and is the official residence of the President of the Spanish Government and his family. The palace is within a group of buildings, the Moncloa Complex, intended for administrative and governmental tasks.

The palace and the name of Moncloa itself are associated with the Presidency of the Government and the Government of Spain.

History

Background: old palace

The Moncloa Palace was initially a farm for agricultural use that, due to its good location, was later converted into a palace-house. It belonged, at the beginning of the XVII century, to Ana de Mendoza, countess of Cifuentes and, after passing through several owners, it was acquired by Juan Croy, count of Sora, being known from then on as huerta de Sora.

In 1660 it was purchased by Gaspar de Haro y Guzmán, Marquis of Carpio y de Eliche, owner of the neighboring orchard of La Moncloa, a name that came from its former owners, the counts of Monclova, which later gave rise to Moncloa, as it is known today.

Gaspar de Haro ordered a palace to be built on top, which would later be known as the Moncloa Palace as the two properties—the La Moncloa orchard and the Sora or Eliche orchard—were united. Both orchards, along with the rest of the possessions that the Marquis of Eliche had in the vicinity, were inherited by his only daughter, Catalina de Haro, married to Francisco Álvarez de Toledo y Silva, 10th Duke of Alba de Tormes.

After passing through various owners, including Antonio Joaquín Guerra, Marquis of Guerra - hence for a time it was known as Huerta de Guerra - it was acquired in 1781 by María del Pilar Ana de Silva-Bazán y Sarmiento, widowed duchess de Arcos who, upon dying in 1784, left it to his daughter María del Pilar Teresa Cayetana de Silva Álvarez de Toledo, 13th Duchess of Alba de Tormes and today remembered as Goya's muse.

On the death of the duchess in 1802 without issue, Charles IV acquired the palace and the orchard to add them to the Royal Site of Florida which, from then on, was known as the Royal Site of La Moncloa. In 1816, Ferdinand VII commissioned the architect Carlos Isidro González Velázquez to restore the palace. Thirty years later, Queen Isabel II transferred all ownership of La Moncloa to the State, which became dependent on the Ministry of Public Works. The palace was restored again by Joaquín Ezquerra del Bayo in 1929, and was reopened as a museum.

During the Civil War the old mansion of La Moncloa was almost completely destroyed.

New palace

Ten years after its destruction, the architect Diego Méndez built, between 1949 and 1953, the present building following the model of the Casa del Labrador of Aranjuez. It was then designated as the official residence of heads of state visiting Spain and high personalities. By law of July 15, 1954, the Moncloa Palace and its gardens, with an area of 58,293.81 square meters and bordered by the four cardinal points with land of the University City of Madrid, was integrated into the National Heritage. The current palace is, therefore, for the most part, a reconstruction of the old palace, carried out during the 1950s.

In the repair, several columns were used from the cloister of the Archbishop's Palace of Arcos de la Llana, in the Burgos valley of the Cavia River, which in other times was the summer residence of the bishops of the diocese of Burgos, who gave it as a gift to Francisco Franco. Thus, the twelve columns - "torn out by the roots and without consideration" - that once "structured the cloister" of the Burgos palace today make up the image of the so-called Hall of Columns, the former courtyard of the official residence of the president. The new design was adapted to the new functions assigned to the palace, which was inaugurated by Franco in 1953. On June 3, 1954, the first foreign head of state to guest at the palace, Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, arrived. On November 28, 1976, the last one, Carlos Andrés Pérez, arrived.

In 1977, President Adolfo Suárez moved the headquarters of the Presidency of the Government, located until then in the central Villamejor Palace, to La Moncloa. The change occurred, fundamentally, and given the remote location of the palace, far from the center of Madrid, for security reasons, due to concerns that an attack would occur against the young president, recently appointed by King Juan Carlos I. With The new headquarters was also established in the Palace, the official residence for the president and his family, which until then did not exist.

The "Hall of Columns" of the original palace witnessed the signing in 1977 of the historic Moncloa Pacts, pacts between unions, political parties and employers in the context of the Transition. As you enter the building, to the right is an office where the president receives his visitors. In the background on the right is a work office of the president, preceded by a library with a window overlooking the rear garden. This is in one of the wings of the famous Hall of Columns, which was previously a courtyard and was covered in 1970 for Richard Nixon's visit. The private part of the palace is located on the upper floor of the main building, since the ground floor is used for official events.

Over time, and given the growing functions that the Presidency of the Government has been assuming with the political model of the 1978 Constitution, additional equipment became necessary which, in order to safeguard the architectural integrity of the original mansion, was They have been building in the peripheral area, thus forming what is known as the “Moncloa Complex”.

The main bedroom of the palace, reserved today for the President of the Government, was the one used by foreign guests when the palace hosted leaders on a state visit to Spain. In this capacity, the dormitory housed, among others, Saddam Hussein during his visit to Spain in 1974 or Rafael Leónidas Trujillo during his visit on June 2, 1954. Also the American presidents Richard Nixon and Dwight Eisenhower. Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy commented shortly after moving to the Elysée that for him La Moncloa was an example of functionality and architectural pragmatism as the headquarters of a government headquarters.

Decoration

The decoration of the presidential residence has changed over time, but certain elements of the original neoclassical decoration remain, substantially redone in the post-war period.

Some objects of great historical-artistic importance decorate the rooms, highlighting paintings by Anton Raphael Mengs, Michel-Ange Houasse, Fernando Brambila or Joan Miró, furniture of various styles, tapestries from the Royal Factory and a curious clock-lamp, unique work due to the watchmaker François-Louis Godon, who was at the service of the kings of Spain in the 18th century.

Situation

The palace is located next to the University City of Madrid. It is surrounded by a series of buildings linked to the Presidency of the Government. The main ones are, due to their size, two: the building of the Ministry of the Presidency, which also houses the headquarters of the Vice Presidency of the Government and which is the only one visible from the outside; and the Government Spokesperson's Building, which houses the communication services of the Government and its presidency.

These buildings constitute, among others, the presidential residence and a discreet pavilion of the Council of Ministers, known as the "Moncloa Complex." Thus, within it, the palace and its gardens are fenced and isolated from the rest, preserving the privacy of the president and his family. Only the Council pavilion, built to house Government meetings, and some offices and functional rooms intended for the use of the President of the Government and his closest collaborators, are included in the palace itself.

La Moncloa Complex

In addition to the Moncloa Palace, the complex includes the Moncloa Gardens and five other buildings that were built to house the headquarters of different organizations linked to the Presidency of the Government: the Council of Ministers, the Vice Presidency of the Government, the Ministry of the Presidency, the Secretary of State for Communication and the Cabinet of the Presidency of the Government. In addition to these, the complex also includes other buildings intended for different departments linked to the Presidency of the Government such as the Security Building, the General Directorate of Protocol, the Services Building, Operational Means and the Greco Building. Finally, the complex also has a heliport and a shelter built during the Felipe González Government.

Gardens

The original mansion and its gardens belong to the Spanish National Heritage, and are cataloged as an Asset of Cultural Interest. The botanical distribution and planting of the latter dates back to the times of King Carlos III, and are attributed to Francisco Antonio Zea, who was director of the Royal Botanical Garden. Later they were rehabilitated by the landscaper Javier Winthuysen, who highlighted the fountains and decorative sculptures. Another important renovation was carried out at the beginning of the century XX by the gardener Cecilio Rodríguez, author of numerous works in Madrid, such as the Sabatini Gardens of the Royal Palace, or the famous Rose Garden of Retiro Park.

Residents

President of the Government		Income	Abandonment	Notes	Political party
	Adolfo Suárez	5 July 1976	25 February 1981	He was the first tenant. He covered the courtyard of the palace up to the height of a plant, so that he could receive the State visits in a position to accommodate also translators and security services. Thus, the present Hall of Columns of the palace is the old main courtyard, covered. He also managed to build a tennis court, fix the pool and have the residence of more phones. His children rediscovered the underground ruins of the old palace kitchens built by the Dukes of Alba.	UCD
	Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo	26 February 1981	1 December 1982	Given his short stay, he barely altered some structural details, but did make functional modifications: thus, he enabled the third floor with new rooms and installed in it the presidential house, clearing the first and main floors. He also rescued a music booth to install the piano, an instrument in which he was very versed.	UCD
	Felipe González	2 December 1982	3 May 1996	Despite their long stay of almost fourteen years, they did not make changes of limestone in the historic palace. The president used to say that it was like "a cream pie mounted with touches of purpurina". During his mandate, the use of the entire palace was consolidated, increasingly overtaken by its lack of space, such as presidential housing. Thus, a small functional pavilion was built just a few steps from the residence where the Councils of Ministers have been held every Friday, as well as some official meetings and informal working meetings. In the new pavilion the president's offices and his closest collaborators were installed, in a more modern and practical decorative environment, adorned with numerous paintings by Joan Miró and some other modern works of art of the National Heritage. In this way, González released the historic palace, which was reduced to a symbolic impact as an official office of the president and to the daily function of presidential residence. In this line, the Hall of the Council of Ministers recovered its main dining function, and old rooms of the main floor were rehabilitated, such as the Hall of Columns, the old courtyard of the palace, giving them their original function. Readaptada la vivienda, González dedicated himself with special care to the garden. Apart from its hobby to the bonsai and the stones carved of Extremadura, which today populate some of the slopes of the environment, cultivated a small orchard and, more widely, implanted and cultivated beautiful plant species that came to complement the whole of the palace gardens, already known for its discreet elegance and botanical quality.	PSOE
	José María Aznar	4 May 1996	15 April 2004	Once installed, it reformed and updated the residential use of the second floor of the palace, and built a paddle court in the gardens. All rooms of the palace were also painted and the perfumed silks that cover the walls of some rooms were restored. On the third floor, the president enabled a playroom for his children. Ana Botella, who supervised some work, felt despite everything that the Moncloa “is uninhabitable for a normal family”.	P
	José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero	16 April 2004	19 December 2011	He carried out the most radical and innovative reform in the palace, which came from the hand of Sonsoles Espinosa, wife of the president of the Government, who, little according to the appearance of the rooms, consulted interior designers and architects, who recommended to replace almost entirely the old furniture, except that of historical or artistic value, with modern furniture of current design. The result was an eclectic atmosphere in which the original rooms of a palatial and institutional environment are combined with a modern decoration, in grey and white tones and, in short, an atmosphere of international style or Bauhaus, accommodated in a neoclassical palace. Finally, some works of contemporary and sculptural art were added and relocated and the interior furniture of the Council ' s pavilion was renewed; however, the furniture and unique objects of the original classic ensemble have been respected in the successive reforms, highlighting the old desk of General Narváez, given by Juan Carlos I to Adolfo Suárez, located in the official office of the president.	PSOE
	Mariano Rajoy	20 December 2011	31 May 2018	Although at first he was shocked by the possibility that President Rajoy would not move to the Moncloa after his election victory in November 2011, he eventually settled in the palace with his wife Elvira Fernández Balboa, and her children Mariano and Juan on December 21 of the same year. The president's office was a room with a balcony overlooking the gardens. It was organized in three areas; the first with sofas, chairs and an auxiliary table for receptions. The second, a metal work table with several white chairs. The third, the president's desk, of dark wood, with two white chairs facing and his black leather desk chair. After the desk, the flags of Spain and the European Union and the painting of Joan Miró Le grand sorcier1968. On the right wall to the desk, a Luis Gordillo etching entitled 10 nostalgias and oblivion.	P
	Pedro Sánchez	1 June 2018	Position	The first change he made was to change the mattress of the double bed and paint the master bedroom.	PSOE