The Community of Madrid is presenting a free exhibition that links the history of the Metro with the Spanish capital’s urban transformation
The exhibition opens today and will run until the end of the year at the current underground worksite. The exhibition uses the buildings that once housed the company’s headquarters as a central theme to trace its development since 1914. It includes previously unpublished photographs of the construction of the Gran Vía and a scale model of the Casa de Metro, the iconic project by the architect Antonio Palacios that was never realised.
The Community of Madrid invites visitors to explore more than a century of urban transformation through an exhibition devoted to the buildings that have housed Metro’s headquarters since its inception. Entitled Las Sedes de Metro (Metro Headquarters). A journey through Madrid’s urban development, the exhibition invites visitors to explore the Spanish capital’s evolution, using as its central theme the spaces from which one of the key infrastructure projects that has contributed most to its growth and territorial organisation has been managed.
The exhibition brings together historical documents, original plans, photographs and several visual resources that allow visitors to trace the expansion of the network and its influence on the city’s development. Each of these venues also reflects its era, both from an architectural perspective and in terms of how it fits into a city that is constantly changing.
Among the most notable pieces are two large-scale models. The first depicts the so-called “Casa de Metro”, the iconic project conceived by the architect Antonio Palacios that was never realised. The second exhibit explores the link between the company’s first premises and the construction of the Gran Vía, one of the most significant urban development projects in 20th-century Madrid.
It also features previously unpublished photographs of these works and several historical artefacts from the early 20th century, such as a typewriter and a calculator, which give visitors an insight into daily life during the service’s early years of operation.
The exhibition can be viewed on the ground floor of Metro’s current corporate headquarters, located at 4 Avenida de Asturias, a space that links the company’s history with its current activities. Admission is free and the exhibition will remain open to the public until the end of December 2026, Monday to Friday, from 10 am to 2 pm.
Bookings for guided tours can be made via museosmetromadrid.es. In addition, the catalogue is available to purchase at the Metro shop located at Plaza de Castilla station.
Exhibition “The Metro Headquarters: A Journey through the Urban Development of Madrid"
