Retail and leisure destination developer Intu is creating an €800m ($886m, £679m) resort on Spain's Costa del Sol, designed by WATG and Broadway Malyan, that will feature eight distinct neighbourhoods, each offering a different experience for visitors. Located in Torremolinos, Intu Costa del Sol will cover 2.5 million sq ft (235,000 sq m) and will incorporate 1.5 million sq ft (142,000 sq m) of retail space, 20+ leisure operators, 70+

The PortAventura theme park in Spain has announced it will develop PortAventura Dreams, a 9,000sq m (29,527sq ft) village of eight homes offering entertainment and fun for children with serious illnesses and their families. PortAventura Dreams, which is due to open in September, will cost around €3m (US$3.38m, £2.65m) to create. Families of up to six people will be offered six-day stays, free of charge, with access to PortAventura's three

John Cora – a former senior executive of The Walt Disney Company – has announced plans to create "Elysium City", a sustainable development and entertainment district in western Spain. Set to rise in rural Castilblanco, Extremadura – in the heart what has been described as a "Spanish Siberia" – the new property will reportedly comprise a 40,000-capacity sports arena, a mega-casino, a theme park, and a marina, as well as

The striking new home for Spanish football side Atletico Madrid is ready to host its first match, with construction finally completed on the 68,000 capacity Wanda Metropolitano stadium. The club has invested a reported €300m on the new ground – which replaces the Vicente Calderon Stadium, its home of over 50 years – in order to propel them to the sport’s elite level. Spanish architecture practice Cruz y Ortiz were

Spanish architect Alberto Campo Baeza has completed a semi-transparent sports hall for a university in Madrid. Designed for the campus of the Francisco de Vitoria University in the Pozuelo municipality, the white steel and concrete facility is formed of two well-defined boxes, connected by a low-rise building whose roof becomes an inter-connecting patio. Sports halls, multi-purpose event spaces, a gymnasium, a swimming pool and physiotherapy rooms all feature, with the

An opening date of 23 June 2017 has been announced for Renzo Piano’s first completed building in Spain: the Botín Center art museum in Santander. Designed in collaboration with Luis Vidal Architects, the building was described by Botín Foundation director general Inigo Sáenz de Miera on 30 March as “a unique place for art, and an engine that generates economic, social and cultural wealth for northern Spain.” The building is

Redevelopment of the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, the iconic home of Spanish football club Real Madrid, looks set to begin in the summer. Tristan Lopez Chicheri, managing partner at architecture firm L35, which is working on the €400m (US$429.5, £344.7m) project, confirmed the timescale in an interview with Spanish sports newspaper Marca. He revealed work will take place during off-season periods to reduce disruption to the club’s sporting schedule, with the

Figures from the worlds of architecture, design, fashion and food have collaborated on a design-led hotel in the heart of Barcelona that “transports classicism to the present day.” The Midmost Hotel is located minutes from both the city’s famous Ramblas and the Sagrada Familia. Interior design firm Luzio Studio have refitted the building, which dates from 1919, using a fusion of styles, materials and concepts. Classical design touches, such as

The director in charge of overseeing FC Barcelona’s ambitious expansion plans has said that the €600m leisure campus planned by the club will reinvigorate the city and boost tourism. The Espai Barça project – described by club president Josep Maria Bartomeu as “the most important sports project in Europe and the world” – will create a pedestrianised, landscaped boulevard surrounding the club’s famous Camp Nou stadium. The district will integrate

The architects charged with revamping FC Barcelona's iconic Camp Nou stadium have given CLAD an exclusive snapshot of their competition-winning design for the project. Japanese practice Nikken Sekkei and Catalan firm Joan Pascual – Ramon Ausio Arquitectes are masterminding the design of the new ground, which will have a semi-transparent roof, an increased capacity of around 105,000 and three skyrings surrounding the perimeter. “FC Barcelona is a club for the

Eight architecture studios have reached the final stage of the international competition to create a new exhibition hall for the Museo del Prado in Madrid; Spain’s national art museum. The new gallery, which will showcase artworks that explore Spanish history, will be housed in the Hall of Realms. The building once formed part of the Royal Buen Retiro Palace and was formerly used as an Army Museum, before it was

The Hyatt Hotels Corporation has officially opened its first European resort; Park Hyatt Mallorca. The Spanish property, which is located across five hectares in the Cap Vermell Estate, is designed in the style of an authentic Mallorquín hillside village. Buildings designed by DSA Architects International are spread across three main terraces and smaller terraces typical of traditional local agricultural settlements have also been scattered across the development, with prominent use

The international jury of the 15th Venice architecture Biennale has awarded the Golden Lion award for Best National Participation to Spain, for its pavilion Unfinished. The Spanish exhibition was one of 65 national pavilions at this year’s Biennale. Each engaged with festival curator Alejandro Aravena’s chosen theme Reporting From the Front to show examples of problems facing the built environment in their countries and some suggested solutions to these challenges.

A new crowdfunding initiative is paving the way for party-loving investors to buy a stake in their very own Ibiza nightclub designed by artist Lluís Güell. The club, called Alter Ibiza, is set to open this July this year on the beach resort of San Josep. Replacing a former club, the new venue will transform the building’s existing basement into “a spectacular large space filled with split columns, marble staircases

A controversial restoration of an ancient Spanish castle has been awarded an international architecture prize, despite being lambasted by a national heritage group as “lamentable”. Spanish studio Carquero Arquitectura’s modernist reinterpretation and renovation of Matrera Castle was the Popular Choice winner at the Architizer A+ Awards, which promotes and celebrates “meaningful architecture”. The 1,000 year-old stricture, which was falling into ruin, was propped up by a white cuboid structure, formed

Metropolitan has just launched a 6,000sq m (64,500sq ft) club in Badalona, Spain – its first in the city. A €5m (US$5.6m, £4m) development, the club follows the philosophy of the rest of the Metropolitan estate, marrying good design and high quality, with an emphasis on both relaxation and training. Located in the city centre, the club has been converted from an old multiplex cinema, which started out as theatre

City planners in Madrid are responding to the challenge of climate change by covering the Spanish capital’s unused spaces in plants and greenery. According to reports in Spain, the local government has given the green light for 22 vacant areas to be transformed into urban gardens and for a million-dollar investment to plant trees along the banks of the Manzanares River. The projects – which follow a decision in 2014

US sports architects HOK and Spanish practice TAC Arquitectes have won the tender to design a new multi-sports arena for Barcelona FC. The duo were chosen by the jury ahead of five other contenders, including MAKE, Dominique Perrault Architecture and Wilkinson Eyre. Among other sporting facilities, the New Palau Blaugrana will feature a basketball court, an ice rink and a new home for the club’s football academy, FCB Escola. The