Torrespaña

Torrespaña
Alternative names El Pirulí
General information
Status Complete
Type Broadcast tower
Location Madrid, Spain
Coordinates 40°25′13″N 3°39′51″W / 40.420278°N 3.664167°W / 40.420278; -3.664167
Construction started 17 February 1981
Inaugurated 7 June 1982
Owner Retevisión
Height 232 m (761 ft)
Technical details
Lifts/elevators 1
Design and construction
Architect Emilio Fernández Martínez de Velasco
Main contractor DragadosAgroman

Torrespaña (literally "Spain Tower") is a 231 m (757.87 ft) steel-and-concrete television tower located in Madrid, Spain. National terrestrial television channels RTVE, Telecinco and Antena 3, as well as the autonomic channel Telemadrid, along with a few radio stations, broadcast from the tower.

The tower was built in 1982, commemorating the FIFA World Cup celebrated in Spain that year. The building was administered by RTVE until 1989, when control over radio and television emissions in Spanish territory was given to Retevisión. It is not open for tourists.

The Torrespaña tower is generally known in Madrid as the "Pirulí", given the similarity between the tower and a particular type of lollipop of conical shape very popular in Spain in the eighties.

Torrespaña on the 50th anniversary of TVE

It is located in a depression, next to the M30 highway. Most of central Madrid lies to the W and NW. According to Google Earth, the terrain altitude at the site is 660 m (2,170 ft) whereas about 1 km (3,280.8 ft) to the NW it is about 700 m (2,296.6 ft) and rises to 720 m (2,360 ft) even further north. Add about 20–30 m (66–98 ft) height for the average building and the base of the tower is about 60 to 90 m (200 to 300 ft) below the rooftops in that area. The top of the tower is directly visible from most rooftops of Madrid, but it initially was thought and built to enhance television coverage in Southern Madrid.

External links

Media related to Torrespaña at Wikimedia Commons

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