La Casa Encendida

The terrace above your head once held the secrets of Madrid's poorest citizens—when this Neo-Mudéjar palace opened in 1913 here on Ronda de Valencia, it was El Monte, a charity pawnshop where desperate people pledged their possessions and were charged no interest at all. Architect Fernando Arbós y Tremanti designed this three-story fortress of tiled domes and geometric Islamic-inspired patterns between 1911 and 1913, never imagining it would become one of Spain's most radical contemporary art spaces. The name itself tells you something surprising—La Casa Encendida, "The Burning House," comes directly from a book of poetry by Luis Rosales Camacho, whose heirs granted permission for its use when the cultural center opened in December 2002. Look upward at those impossible Moorish curves—they're protected monuments, untouched since the building's three-year restoration that began in 1999. Today, that central courtyard where clerks processed loans hosts video installations that challenge your thinking, while the rooftop garden has become sacred ground where the Generaciones competition launches emerging artists' careers every year. You're walking through the fossilized remains of Madrid's banking history into its artistic conscience.