Telefónica sells its historic Gran Vía headquarters in Madrid for 200 million

Telefónica sells its historic Gran Vía headquarters for 200 million

Telefónica has completed the sale of its historic headquarters at number 28 Gran Vía in Madrid. The buyer, property entrepreneur Tomás Olivo, will pay 200 million euros for a building that has witnessed a hundred years of the company's history. The deal, closed this week, forms part of the change of direction driven by Marc M, the telecom company's current chairman.

A sale that doesn't surprise everyone

The decision makes sense from a corporate point of view. Telefónica already has a first-class corporate campus north of Madrid which, according to some reports, has even proved too big for it. The Gran Vía building, erected in 1920, is an awkward, cramped structure in a saturated area with little business activity. In recent years it was barely used for exhibitions, conferences and interviews. Its interior, however, had been carefully renovated, both the Fundación space and the Espacio Movistar retail area.

Criticism and speculation

Not everyone is applauding the deal. Some point out that Movistar has become a company more focused on selling alarm systems and spying on its customers than on preserving its assets. Others suggest the sale smells of desperation, of a lack of liquidity. And there is no shortage of political criticism: some see government control over Telefónica that is dissolving national heritage. The question many are asking is what will happen to the building. A hotel? Luxury apartments? Gran Vía has already seen other icons converted into homes for millionaires.

If the building ends up as a luxury hotel or apartments for millionaires, Gran Vía will have lost another piece of its history. But if the sale helps put Telefónica's accounts in order, perhaps it is the price of survival.