ES+ | No.3 | 2025/2026 Ten icons Made by Spain 1 Las meninas This masterpiece by Diego Velázquez, painter of the Spanish Golden Age, is actually called The Family of Philip IV. It depicts the Infanta Margarita Teresa of Austria surrounded by her maids, the meninas. King Philip IV and Queen Mariana of Austria are seen reflected in a mirror, and the painter’s self- portrait located within the composition completes one of the most talked-about works in art history. Completed in 1656, the work has been exhibited at the Prado Museum since 1819. 2 The Mosque-Cathedral 4 Canary Islands Institute of Córdoba of Astrophysics The Mosque-Cathedral Monumental The Canary Islands Institute Complex in Córdoba is a unique of Astrophysics is a public body example of Spain’s identity and history. that manages two of the leading The building contains historical layers international observatories in the world: belonging to different cultures and the Teide Observatory and the Roque civilisations: it summarises the complete de los Muchachos Observatory. The evolution of the Umayyad style in Spain, first black hole in the Milky Way and the as well as the Gothic, Renaissance and first brown dwarf, called Teide 1, were Baroque styles. A World Heritage Site discovered from these observatories. since 1984, it is the most important The clear skies of the Canary Islands monument in the entire Islamic West. 3 The Telefónica building make these observatories the perfect place from which to observe the cosmos. Designed by Ignacio de Cárdenas Pastor, one of the architects of the Generation of ’25, the Telefónica building on Madrid’s Gran Vía was one of Spain’s first skyscrapers. It was completed in 1930 and was a symbol of modernisation in Spanish communications. Alfonso XIII made the first transatlantic telephone call from this very building, speaking with the President of the United States, Calvin Coolidge. 7