In 1565, Felipe II and the Council of Castile granted permission for the creation of the Brotherhood of the Sacred Passion with the privilege of maintaining a place to perform comedies and dedicating a percentage of the collection (the armhole) for charitable purposes.

Between the years 1887 and 1894, the architect Don Román Guerrero directs the works of a great reform; It is already the current theater, with very slight differences. His daughter, Doña María Guerrero, along with her husband Don Fernando Díaz de Mendoza, are the ones who inaugurate the renovated coliseum.

Already in our century, new reforms are made under the direction of the architect Pablo Aranda, continued by Luis Bellido and Enrique Colás, which end in 1926.

Linked to this theater since its inception, the Lope de Vega Award, the oldest and most prestigious, instituted by the City Council in 1932, has served to publicize authors who are already featured in anthologies today.In 1939, the Spanish Theater became dependent, for some time, on the Ministry of Information and Tourism, to later return to the supervision of the Madrid City Council.

In 1995 Andrés Oñoro, Enrique Ortega and José María Guijarro are the architects in charge of expanding the theater that houses a rehearsal room, library, exhibition hall, offices, warehouses and the Spanish café.

Learn more about its history on its website

see theater website