The BBVA Foundation is housed in the palace that used to be the residence of the Marquis of Salamanca in Madrid, on Paseo de Recoletos. The building was fully rehabilitated for the Foundation, one of the city’s top cultural venues.

Built between 1846 and 1855 by architect Narciso Pascual y Colomer, the palace was a four-façade detached building with a ground floor and a main floor, a lovely garden with a Carrara marble fountain, and a wrought iron gate. The main façade was designed in a classical style under the influence of palazzo-style architecture. It features three rounded arches in the central section leading into the building. The main floor is decorated with grotesque elements, medallions and half-columns.

The BBVA Foundation has five strategic areas of activity: Environment, Biomedicine and Health, Economy and Society, Basic Science and Technology, and Culture. It designs, develops and funds research projects, offers grants, courses, workshops and seminars, and organises outreach activities to share the knowledge produced.

The foundation’s Multiverso Hall holds video art exhibitions by programme beneficiaries or artists with special commissions.