Telefónica has closed the terms of the sale of its former headquarters in Madrid, the iconic building on Gran Vía 28, to the Cartagena developer Tomás Olivo for around 200 million euros, as announced Digital Economy. The operation could be formalized in August.
The panoramic. The Ignacio de Cárdenas building, inaugurated in 1929 and protected with the highest heritage level in Madrid, no longer belongs to the company that gave it its name.
Telefónica gives up waiting for an urban reclassification that could have triggered the price, preferring to close the operation now with Olivo, the second largest shareholder of Unicaja and owner of shopping centers such as La Cañada or Nevada Shopping.
In detail. The agreement includes a clause that benefits both parties depending on how the municipal file evolves:
- If the Madrid City Council authorizes a change of use of the property (from residential to residential, commercial or hotel), the final price could rise between 40 and 50 million more, via premium in favor of Telefónica.
- If this reclassification does not arrive, Olivo is left with a historical asset that can “only” be used for cultural or educational uses, the only ones allowed by the current General Urban Planning Plan.
- The regulatory risk, before Telefónica, now passes into the hands of the buyer.
Why is it important. The sale confirms the pattern that defines Marc Murtra’s management since he became president in January 2025: divest assets that do not contribute to the telecommunications business. No matter how symbolic they are.
Before the Gran Vía 28 building, Telefónica It has already sold its subsidiaries in almost all of Latin America: Argentina, Peru, Mexico, Chile, Ecuador and Colombia, and only Venezuela remains pending. It is expected to be resolved before the year ends.
The context. The sale of the historic building is not an isolated movement. Just a few weeks ago, Murtra rented more than 40,000 square meters of the Las Tablas headquartersempty after successive employment regulation files and voluntary resignation plans that have been reducing the workforce.
José María Álvarez-Pallete, his predecessor, had avoided touching both buildings due to their symbolic value, despite internal complaints about excessive teleworking and the consequent underuse of space.
Yes, but. Selling offices and subsidiaries reduces debt and frees up cash, but it does not by itself solve Telefónica’s underlying problem: a telecom company competes in a sector where the margin has moved towards whoever controls the software and data, not towards whoever lays cables and antennas. Lightening the balance sheet can buy time, but it cannot buy differentiation.
The contrast. Tomás Olivo, with a real estate asset that exceeds 3,000 million euros and a personal fortune estimated at 4,600 million, is betting on an asset that the urban planning regulations themselves limit almost completely.
Its investment profile, built on shopping centers in Murcia, Almería or the Canary Islands, anticipates patience in its movements: the real business to be exploited with Gran Vía 28 depends on a decision that sooner or later the Madrid City Council will have to make.
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Featured image | Wikimedia Commons, Telefónica
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