Madrid vs Pyongyang: the race for the best skyline

Has Pyongyang overtaken Madrid's skyline? The comparison that divides opinion

Pyongyang has unveiled its profile of towers and Madrid has responded with a photograph taken from La Marañosa. The controversy running through 2026 is not just aesthetic: it pits two models of city against each other, one vertical and empty, the other dense and sprawling. And neither image emerges unscathed from technical analysis.

The Madrid photo that raises suspicions

The image, released in the spring of 2020 as an example of a pollution-free city during lockdown, shows the snow-capped mountains very close and the main skyscrapers lined up. The position of Torrespaña relative to the Kio Towers and the Four Towers was called into question. Some argue that a telephoto lens compresses distances and makes that perspective possible; others claim it is a montage or an AI-generated image. The technical debate even mentioned the six neighbourhoods that lie between the Pirulí tower and the tower complex, at an altitude of around 700 metres.

Pyongyang, a showcase skyline

The North Korean capital displays large blocks that could compete in height with any Asian city. But in the night-time photographs barely any lights are on and hardly any cars are moving. That emptiness fuels the thesis that many of the towers are facades or uninhabited. Madrid, with its historic centre, its neighbourhoods and its traffic, offers a less monumental but more human profile. The comparison then becomes a deeper question: is a skyline better the taller it is, or the more inhabited?

Europe's war on the skyscraper

Behind the controversy lurks an old reproach: in Spain and much of Europe building tall is frowned upon, while in Asia it is celebrated. The result is that Madrid concentrates its towers in a single spot, the AZCA area, and Pyongyang spreads its blocks around like a shop window. In the end, the debate over which skyline is best seems an excuse to talk about what each society values in its architecture.

The next time someone shows you a photo of a skyline, look beyond the silhouette: the camera, the light and the perspective can sell you a city that doesn't exist. And perhaps Benidorm, with its towers by the sea, is the only one that doesn't deceive.