Cuartel del Infante Don Juan

On a bright May morning in 1920, a grand ceremony unfolded at the Cuartel del Infante Don Juan. King Alfonso XIII himself laid the first stone of this impressive military barracks. The Cuartel del Infante Don Juan was named in honor of the King’s son, a tribute requested by the Corps of Engineers. This marked the beginning of a special relationship between the royal family and the barracks. Decades later, in 1977, the Cuartel del Infante Don Juan witnessed another royal event. The current King Felipe VI, then Prince of Asturias, enlisted as a soldier here. The barracks wasn’t just a place for ceremonies. It was a vital part of Madrid’s military landscape. Its construction was made possible by a 1918 law that funded the building of numerous military barracks across Spain. Designed by Lieutenant Colonel León Sanchiz Pavón, the Cuartel del Infante Don Juan was the first of these modern barracks. The project faced its share of challenges, including rising labor costs and material prices. Despite these setbacks, the barracks was completed and housed the Saboya Infantry Regiment by 1925. The Cuartel del Infante Don Juan stood as a witness to history. In 1925, it welcomed triumphant troops returning from the heroic defense of Kudia Tahar. During the Spanish Civil War, the barracks’s location near the front lines left it scarred with bullet impacts, some of which are still visible today. Even after it ceased to function as a barracks in 1982, the Cuartel del Infante Don Juan escaped demolition. Today, it houses the Military General Archive of Madrid and the Central Military Library, preserving Spain’s rich military history.