About CoastalArch

Last updated: June 2024

CoastalArch documents the built fabric of hotels and historically significant buildings along Spain's coastlines and within its historic city centres. The material covers architectural periods from the Nasrid and Mudejar traditions of Andalusia through the Modernisme movement in Catalonia, the regionalist vernacular of mid-century Parador construction, and the large-scale commercial hotel development that followed the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Scope

The site addresses buildings in two categories: hotels and hotel-related structures that have architectural significance beyond their commercial function, and historic buildings — castles, convents, palaces, hospitals — that have been converted to hotel use and whose architectural character has been substantially preserved through that conversion.

Purely commercial hotel buildings with no distinctive architectural characteristics are generally outside the scope of this resource. The focus is on structures where construction method, ornamental vocabulary, spatial organisation or historical context provides material of interest beyond accommodation function.

Sources

Content is drawn from publicly available sources including:

• Published architectural monographs and peer-reviewed survey literature
• Heritage body records from the Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte (Spain), the Consejo Superior de los Colegios de Arquitectos de España, and regional Colegios de Arquitectos
• UNESCO World Heritage documentation for Spanish inscribed properties
• Published records from the Paradores de España network
• Digitised architectural survey material from the Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya and comparable regional archives

No claims are made to original research. Where specific buildings or periods are referenced, the relevant primary or secondary source is identified in the text or in associated reference notes.

Content Standards

Statistics and figures are included only where they appear in identified published sources. Where exact data is unavailable or unverified, neutral descriptive language is used rather than approximations. Architectural assessments reflect the current state of published scholarship rather than independent evaluation.

The site does not publish promotional content, commercial assessments of accommodation quality, or recommendations for visitors. Its purpose is informational and documentary.

Images

All images used on this site are sourced from Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons licences that permit reuse. Image captions identify the specific building, photographer and licence where this information is available in the Wikimedia Commons record.

External Links

Where external links appear, they point to publicly accessible institutional resources: government heritage registries, UNESCO documentation, the Paradores network's official information, and comparable authoritative sources. No affiliate, commercial or sponsored links are included.