Apple to take over whole of Madrid's "Tío Pepe" building
Sherry gives way to technology as US giant moves into town
The third store to be opened by computer giant Apple in Spain will occupy not just the lower floors of No.1 Puerta de Sol in the heart of Madrid's city center, as previously reported, but the whole building, Mayor Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón announced Wednesday.
Previous plans for the property, which has been closed for four years and is famous for the giant neon sign for Tío Pepe sherry on its roof, were for it to revert to its original use as a hotel with the store only taking up the bottom two or so of its seven stories.
But as Gallardón told the EFE news agency, the owners of the building, the Díaz Estrada family, have reached an agreement with the technology giant for a shop "with a surface area that will probably be greater than the one Apple has at the moment on Fifth Avenue in New York."
Apple already has stores in shopping malls outside Madrid and Barcelona, but this will be the first in a city center.