Palacio de Longoria

The headquarters of the Spanish Society of Authors and Publishers, in the Malasaña district, is well known for being one of Madrid's few totally art nouveau buildings. The Society is an institution whose function is to defend writers and publishers by overseeing the rights for the reproduction, distribution and public transmission of literary, musical, theatrical, cinematographical and audiovisual works.

The palace was built by the financier Javier González Longoria as a family home and to house the offices of his banking business. The building is notable for its luxurious, highly ornamental external appearance, very much in line with art nouveau taste.  The most important new feature of this building was the treatment given to the façade, executed in artificial stone with smooth vegetable and organic forms that give a sense of spatial continuity to the surfaces, using interlinked decorative elements that cover them completely. The building is topped by an impressive iron and glass dome.  Inside the building the main staircase is a particularly striking feature. An imperial staircase with a circular outline, it takes its inspiration from French art nouveau architecture, like the rest of the décor.