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Mahou San Miguel has purchased the Palace of the Duke of El Infantado as the venue for a cultural and leisure facility offering visitors an innovative brewing experience
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Madrid locals and tourists alike will delight in the historical heritage of the company and experience first-hand the beer-making process
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The features will include an innovation laboratory to explore consumers' tastes, equipped with cutting-edge technological facilities
Madrid, 20 October 2014. Mahou San Miguel, Spain's leading brewery, founded in Madrid almost 125 years ago, has acquired the Palace of the Duke of El Infantado, built in the 18th century in the distinctive district of La Latina in the historic centre of the city.
Covering an area of 3,150 m2 at the address Calle Don Pedro, 1, it has until now been the site of the CEU Business School. The project will involve an investment of 10 million euros by the brewer.
Mahou San Miguel is inseparably tied to Madrid and has since it was founded made an active contribution to the city's cultural, economic and social life, and will be using this landmark palace to house a facility which will combine tradition and innovation, allowing visitors to enjoy a complete beer experience. The company's aim in this venture is to contribute to Madrid's leisure offering while enhancing its tourist attractions.
The centre will be equipped with the very latest technological resources, placing it at the cutting edge in Europe for this type of installation. It will provide a close-up insight into the natural brewing process along with the chance to sample Mahou San Miguel products at tasting sessions offering the opportunity to learn more about the properties and characteristics of the drink. There will also be an interactive zone intended for cultural and leisure activities, and a laboratory which will research new product development lines and launch gastronomic innovation projects.
It will likewise provide a venue for the company to share its historical heritage with Madrid locals and tourists, through documents, apparatus, bottles and delivery vehicles, along with a valuable collection of costumbrista photography depicting 19th-century life in Madrid.
"Our intention is to use this space to present an unprecedented journey through the reality of our company, restoring the past, experiencing the present and building the future of the brand. We will also be helping to showcase the brewing culture of a city where beer enjoys a deeply rooted tradition and is an active part of the daily life and social fabric of the local populace". According to Javier López del Hierro, President of Mahou San Miguel, “This initiative had to be based on Mahou. That was the only possible approach, given our close ties to the city where we were founded more than a century ago. Mahou is the Madrid beer, and its history also tells the story of the city itself," he adds.
The centre, which will present the history of the company and help promote the culture of brewing, is scheduled to open to the public in 2016.