{"id":2627,"date":"2014-11-11T20:02:04","date_gmt":"2014-11-11T20:02:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.spainexchange.com\/?p=2627"},"modified":"2026-10-09T13:54:36","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T13:54:36","slug":"palacio-de-comunicaciones-madrid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spainexchange.com\/articles\/palacio-de-comunicaciones-madrid\/","title":{"rendered":"Palacio de Comunicaciones, Madrid"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Palacio de Comunicaciones is the former name of the large white building on the Plaza de Cibeles in Madrid. Today it is called the Palacio de Cibeles (Cibeles Palace) and it houses Madrid City Hall, the CentroCentro cultural centre and the Mirador Madrid observation deck. This post explains the history of the building, what is inside and how to visit it.<\/p>\n<h2>From post office to city hall<\/h2>\n<p>The palace was designed and built by the architects Antonio Palacios and Joaqu\u00edn Otamendi as the headquarters of the Spanish Post Office. According to Madrid&#8217;s official tourism website it opened in 1919 and served as the Head Post Office. It is made of stone, iron and glass and stands on land that was once part of the gardens of El Buen Retiro.<\/p>\n<p>In 1993 the building was declared an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC) in the Monument category. It has been the seat of Madrid City Council since 2007. The tourism website describes the design as Functionalist and as one of the oldest examples of Modernist architecture in Spain.<\/p>\n<h2>What is inside<\/h2>\n<p>Entry to the building is free. The main public areas are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The former Operations Hall of the Post Office on the 2nd floor, with a tourist information point and Caf\u00e9 Cibeles<\/li>\n<li>The Landscape of Light Interpretation Centre in the Patio de Operaciones, about the area of Paseo del Prado and El Retiro Park that became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.esmadrid.com\/en\/tourist-information\/centrocentro\">CentroCentro<\/a>, a public contemporary art centre with exhibition areas on the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th floors<\/li>\n<li>The Glass Gallery, a multi-purpose space under a glass dome, and the Caja de M\u00fasica Auditorium below it, with room for 262 people<\/li>\n<li>The Cornamusa Cibeles restaurant and the Azotea Cibeles rooftop bar on the 6th floor<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.esmadrid.com\/en\/tourist-information\/mirador-madrid\">Mirador Madrid<\/a>, the observation deck in the main tower<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Mirador Madrid<\/h2>\n<p>The observation deck gives a 360\u00ba view of the city, including Gran V\u00eda, Calle de Alcal\u00e1, Paseo de la Castellana and El Retiro Park. Maps on the deck help to identify the main buildings. Visitors go up to floor 6E and then climb a staircase with 88 steps. Lifts are available, with priority for people with reduced mobility and for prams.<\/p>\n<p>In 2026 general admission costs \u20ac4. A concession ticket costs \u20ac2 for unemployed people, children aged 7 to 14, over 65s and people with disabilities and their companions, and \u20ac1 for children under 6. Online booking adds \u20ac0.50 per ticket. Visits start every 30 minutes. The deck was closed for part of 2026, and it can close without notice in bad weather, so check the CentroCentro information before going.<\/p>\n<h2>Opening times and guided tours<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Exhibitions: Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 8pm<\/li>\n<li>Mirador Madrid: Tuesday to Sunday, 10.30am to 2pm and 4pm to 7.30pm<\/li>\n<li>Ticket office (2nd floor): Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 1.40pm and from 3pm<\/li>\n<li>Closed: Mondays, 1 and 6 January, 1 May, 24, 25 and 31 December<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>CentroCentro offers free guided tours, which must be booked in advance by email, by phone or at the information desk. The tour of the building lasts about 1 hour, is given in English, French and Italian and takes place on Wednesday and Friday at 6.30pm, on Saturday at 10.30am and 6pm and on Sunday at 6pm. The tour of the observation deck lasts 30 minutes and is given in Spanish only.<\/p>\n<p>For students on a budget the palace is an easy visit: the building and the guided tours are free, and the exhibitions have their own programme and prices. Allow an hour for the building, and more for an exhibition or the observation deck.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting there<\/h2>\n<p>The address is Plaza de Cibeles, 1. The nearest metro station is Banco de Espa\u00f1a on line 2, and the Cercan\u00edas local train stops at Madrid-Recoletos. Many city bus lines pass the square, and there are BiciMAD bike-share docking stations at Plaza de Cibeles and Banco de Espa\u00f1a.<\/p>\n<h2>Around the Plaza de Cibeles<\/h2>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esmadrid.com\/en\/tourist-information\/fuente-de-la-cibeles\">Cibeles Fountain<\/a> has stood in the square since 1782. It was commissioned by King Charles III and designed by the architect Ventura Rodr\u00edguez. It shows Cybele, the Roman goddess of fertility, on a chariot drawn by two lions. Real Madrid fans gather here to celebrate their team&#8217;s victories.<\/p>\n<p>Four large buildings stand around the fountain: Cibeles Palace, Buenavista Palace (the Army&#8217;s General Headquarters), Linares Palace (home of the Casa de Am\u00e9rica cultural institution) and the Bank of Spain. Other posts describe the <a href=\"\/articles\/plaza-de-cibeles-madrid\/\">Plaza de Cibeles<\/a>, the <a href=\"\/articles\/palacio-de-buena-vista-madrid\/\">Palacio de Buenavista<\/a> and the <a href=\"\/articles\/banco-de-espana-madrid\/\">Banco de Espa\u00f1a<\/a>. The square also marks the start of the Paseo del Arte, the avenue of the Prado, Thyssen-Bornemisza and Reina Sof\u00eda museums.<\/p>\n<p>Students who plan a longer stay can find schools and courses on the <a href=\"\/study-abroad\/cities2-madrid-en.htm\">Madrid city page<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Palacio de Comunicaciones in Madrid, now Cibeles Palace: history, what is inside, Mirador Madrid prices and hours, free tours and transport.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2628,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-madrid"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Palacio de Comunicaciones, Madrid<\/title>\n<meta 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