September 2022 - I forgot to post this review. Very interesting museum they show and explain the evolution of telephones, of the way of communicating, it is also an interactive museum. I would recommend dropping by.

This is one of a number of note-worthy buildings that line Madrid’s most famous street, the Gran Via. Its towering, solid structure made me think of Gotham City. It’s main claim to fame is being Spain’s first skyscraper. Its doors first opened on 1st Jan, 1930, and at that time, standing at 89 metres, it was not just Spain’s tallest building but the tallest one in Europe. It remained Madrid’s tallest building until 1953. I found the stories around the building, more interesting than the building itself: i) During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) it was the prime target for Nationalist bombing because it was Spain’s main hub of communications. for Spain. The basements became air raid shelters and bombs rained down around it. Ernest Hemingway worked as a foreign war correspondent here at this time. You can imagine him making his way along the Gran Via, in between avoid bombing raids, to file his reports at the Office of Foreign Press inside the building. ii) It was also here that the very first transatlantic conversation between a US President (Calvin Coolidge) and a European leader (Spain’s King Alfonso XIII) took place on 13 Oct 1928. It was a great technological advance. Instead of messages between envoys and ambassadors, the two leaders were able to speak personally to each other. Immediately, this made me wonder what they said. Still curious, later in the day, I looked it up. For the most part, they talked about the importance of this new technology. Coolidge said, “… I believe it to be true that when two men can talk together the danger of any serious disagreement is immeasurably lessened and that what is true of individuals is true of nations. The international telephone, therefore, which carries the warmth and the friendliness of the human voice, will always correct what might be misinterpreted in the written word.” Words of wisdom. Coolidge might have been talking almost 100 years ago but weirdly his words seem even truer and more relevant now than then. How easy is it to misinterpret tone when you rely mainly on texts and emails? Nowadays, the building has the flagship store for a mobile phone company and regular free exhibitions and talks so you are able to go inside if you want a closer look.