Bus Stations in Spain in the Middle of the 20th Century: The Case of the Alicante Central Bus Station, 1943–1947

The contribution traces the history of the Alicante Central Bus Station, the work of the architect Félix de Azúa Gruart, from 1943 to 1947, during the Spanish postwar period. This time was characterized by the international isolation of the Dictatorship, the economic restrictions and the scarcity of construction materials, and the imposition of cultural slogans that demanded a return to the language of certain episodes in Spanish architectural history. In this adverse context, this infrastructure for the transport of people emerges as a work of resistance and establishes links with the interwar functionalist architecture. The Station, along with four blocks of social housing, occupied the entirety of a block. This equipment was made up of a building for travellers and platforms for buses. Among its architectural values are the rationality of the structure, its spacious hall, the logic of the separation of circulation between users and machinery, the underground gallery and the external protection canopies. These characteristics have led to the building being registered in the DoCoMoMo-Ibérico database, but this has not prevented its obsolescence. The Station was closed in 2011. From then on, its reuse for the Seneca Cultural Space was considered.