Antiguo Economato Militar, Melilla
A military supply store given a theatrical modernist face by Nieto, all flowers, discs and rising lines.
At a glance
The Antiguo Economato Militar stands on the central avenue of Melilla’s Modernista quarter. The building began in 1907 as a military commissary in an eclectic style, to a project by the engineer Rodríguez Borlado. In 1915 Enrique Nieto, the architect who had carried Gaudí’s lessons from Barcelona to Melilla, gave it a wholly Modernista remodelling, and it is that face we see today, counted among the best examples of modernism in the city. It belongs to the historic-artistic ensemble of Melilla.
Key facts
- Location: Avenida Juan Carlos I Rey, Ensanche Modernista, Melilla
- Architect: Enrique Nieto (modernist remodelling); original 1907 by Rodríguez Borlado
- Built: 1907; remodelled in modernism in 1915
- Style: Melilla modernism
- Today: within the protected historic-artistic ensemble of Melilla
History
The economato was a military supply store, the kind of practical building a garrison city needed. It was first put up in 1907 in a restrained eclectic style by the engineer Rodríguez Borlado, when Melilla was beginning its rapid growth as a Spanish stronghold on the North African coast.
Within a few years the city had committed fully to modernism, and in 1915 Enrique Nieto was called in to bring the commissary up to date. Rather than rebuild, he reclothed the existing structure in a new Modernista skin, transforming a plain utilitarian block into one of the show fronts of the avenue.
The remodelling is a good example of how Melilla’s modernism worked: not only new buildings but the re-dressing of older ones, until the whole Ensanche spoke the same ornamental language. The economato has since lost its original use, but its façade survives as a protected part of the city’s heritage.
What you see
Nieto’s front is theatrical. Vertical lines run up the façade between the windows, broken by carved floral panels and by the circular medallions he liked to set into the stone. A balustrade crowns the top, giving the building a stage-like silhouette against the sky.
The ornament is dense but ordered, gathered around the openings and along the cornice so that the eye is led upward. Standing on the avenue, the economato shows how completely a modest commissary could be turned into a piece of Modernista display, the equal of the apartment blocks and department stores around it.
Practical information
- Open: exterior only; viewable from the avenue
- Cost: free to view the façade
- Best for: the circular medallions and the balustraded crown
- Time needed: 10 minutes
Getting there
The Antiguo Economato Militar is on the Avenida Juan Carlos I Rey in central Melilla, within the Modernista Ensanche near La Reconquista.
Nearby
- Grandes Almacenes La Reconquista — Nieto’s department store on the same avenue
- Casino Español — Nieto’s society building nearby
- Sinagoga Or Zaruah — Nieto’s synagogue in the quarter
Sources
- Melilla Turismo (melillaturismo.com) — Modernismo melillense
- Melilla Monumental (melillamonumental.es) — Nieto buildings of the Ensanche
- Wikimedia Commons — image source and licence
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