Why is a Schweppes poster one of Madrid's great icons?
Many times it is said in a derogatory tone that Madrid He only has one monument and, in addition, he has the unpacking to show off him: Schweppes poster. In a city that presumes museums, palaces and squares with centuries of history, it is almost provocative that an advertising structure has sneaked into cultural referents.
But there is still on, omnipresent, challenging. There is no photo that resists, nor tourist who does not look for him when he arrives at the Gran Vía. And the most curious thing is that there is no cheap trap or nostalgia. What stands on Callao is not an ornament: it is a real capital emblem.
The neon was turned on for the first time in 1972, replacing another commercial announcement: one of Camel. The installation was possible after the license was achieved in September of that year, and in a matter of weeks, the letters with the typography of Schweppes already dominated andl Carrión Building.
Placed 37 meters from the ground, measures 10.65 meters wide by 9.36 high, with a total weight of 600 kilos. Its lyrics, which together exceed 100 kilos, are held thanks to a reinforced structure that houses 104 multicolored neon tubes.
Survive an ordinance and exit reinforced
All that was intact even when, in 2009, a Municipal Ordinance forced to disassemble more than 400 light signs. Only three were saved for their aesthetic and cultural value: that of Schweppes in Callao, Uncle Pepe in Sol and BBVA in Castellana.
The then mayor, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardónsigned a measure designed to reduce visual pollution, but that poster stayed. Not by chance, but because it was already part of the emotional furniture of the city.
Behind the poster there is more than cables, metal and noble gas. There is an architectural history that starts in the Second Republicwhen Melín's marquis, Enrique Carrión and neighborpromoted the construction of a new building on the Gran Vía.
After calling a contest to which names such as Pedro Muguruza were presented, the final design was the work of Luis Martínez-Feduchi and Vicente Eced. The construction was completed in 1933. That same year, it received the Madrid City Council Awardand the following year, lA second -class medal at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts.
Integrated advertising from the first stone
The building, style Art Decoalso incorporates rationalist and expressionist elements. Their forms remind New York Flatironwith which he shares that curved chaflán silhouette and expressive verticality.
Since its inception it was thought as a multifunctional space, with cinemas, offices and homes, but also as External advertising supportwhich explains that the Schweppes poster is not a subsequent addition, but an essential part of its physiognomy.
From the battle front to cult cinema
During the Civil warits height made it a Strategic point observational. Decades later, it became another element of popular culture thanks to cinema. The most recognizable scene appears in The day of the beastby Álex de la Iglesia.
In it, Santiago Segura and Álex Angulo climb the poster with the aim of altering the fate of the Antichrist. As the director himself explained in an interview with RTVE “The idea was that the most visible place in Madrid served as a point of resistance against evil.”
In 2018, the Carrión building was declared Cultural Interest Good. The resolution, promoted during the presidency of Cristina Cifuenteshighlighted its architectural value and its relevance as an urban reference. It was not a concession to nostalgia, but a way of protecting something that had already become a visual reference.
The Schweppes poster is not important for what announces, but for what it represents: an image that has managed to move from commercial claim to Emblem of a city. And he has done it without pretensions, without radical changes, remaining firm while everything around him has evolved.
