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La Voz de Madrid

Madrid Heritage Lifts Suspension on Former Baobab Building

The Directorate General of Cultural Heritage deems the building to have no cultural value, confirming the demolition license.

Facade of a historic building in Madrid with ornate balconies and iron railings, warm afternoon light.
IA

Facade of a historic building in Madrid with ornate balconies and iron railings, warm afternoon light.

The Directorate General of Cultural Heritage of the Community of Madrid has lifted the precautionary suspension on the building located at Calle Cabestreros, 1, formerly the Baobab restaurant, finding it to have no cultural value.

The resolution, dated May 22, further confirms that the municipal license for the demolition and replacement of the property was correctly granted. This clears the way for the resumption of construction work on a hostel, a project authorized by the Madrid City Council's Activities Agency.
The case had previously been reviewed by the Commission for the Protection of Historical, Artistic, and Natural Heritage, which issued a favorable opinion for demolition on May 25, 2020, concluding that the building lacked any protected elements. The property had been closed and vandalized for some time.
However, last January, the demolition was halted after the PSOE party approached the Prosecutor's Office to report potential "irreversible damage" to a property they argued could be part of Madrid's traditional pre-17th-century housing stock. The suspension followed a query from the Madrid City Council to the Regional Directorate General of Heritage.
The delegate for Urban Planning, Environment, and Mobility, Borja Carabante, had warned that the developer might be acting "illegally" if work continued after the suspension order. The City Council mobilized the Activities Agency and the Municipal Police to verify compliance, and work eventually ceased.
During those weeks, both PSOE and Más Madrid defended the symbolic and social value of the former Baobab as a representative space of multicultural Lavapiés. They criticized the increase in hotel projects in the Centro district and warned of the impact urban transformation has on housing access and the identity of historic neighborhoods.
With the new Heritage resolution, the matter is administratively settled, and the hotel project can now proceed.

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