TIMELINE
Second half of the 15th century
Annexes of the Church of Betlem.
1543-1544
School founded by the Jesuit congregation.
1767
King Carlos III allocates this space to the diocese of Barcelona through a royal charter issued in 1769, and the former Jesuit school becomes a seminary.
19th century
The diocese of Barcelona has possession of the facilities until the second half of the 19th century when the city’s Revolutionary Junta appropriates the building.
1868
The Provincial government takes control of the majority of the facilitie, except the annexes located on Xuclà street, which are publicly auctioned.
1872-1875
The diocese reclaims the property by virtue of the 1860 concordat, which had declared the seminaries as church property exempt from confiscation. Two sovereign ordinances decree the return of the diocesan property.
1876
Once ownership is recovered, the bishopric requests authorisation from the State to sell the property so they can move the seminary to the Eixample new area.
1877
Josep Maria Galí buys most of the property, except the portion nearest the apse of the Church of Belén, which remains in the possession of the bishopric. Galí applies for a permit to demolish the old seminary and divide the property into individual plots.
1879
The easternmost plot, the one closest to the Church of Betlem, is bought by the López y López family, the marquises of Comillas and owners of the Compañía Trasatlántica Española (CTE).
1880
The López y López family attorney, José Encina, applies for a permit to build a house on the only undeveloped plot left, on Rambla dels Estudis. Architect Josep Oriol Mestres erects the building, which becomes the headquarters of the Compañía Trasatlántica Española (CTE).
1929
The Satrústegui brothers, partners of the López family, sell the building to the Compañía General de Tabacos de Filipinas (General Tobacco Company of the Philippines), which uses it as its headquarters. Several months later the company rents the basement, ground and first floors to the Sociedad Anónima del Banco Hispano Colonial, a bank, for a period of twenty-five years.
1932
Fire in the El Siglo department store that affects the volume of the building.
1935
The building adopts its current appearance as a result of the fire, which results in a significant urban redevelopment of the surroundings.
1945
The headquarters of Ferrocarril de Alcántara en Lorca move to the main floor.
1954
Productos Electrolíticos renovates one of the mezzanine floors and moves its headquarters there.
1958
Renovations to the main courtyard and replacement of the skylight designed by Josep Oriol Mestres with the current one.
1960
Banco de Santander opens a branch on the ground floor. The architect responsible for the project is Miquel Punset.
1992
The Compañía General de Tabacos de Filipinas sells the building for 3.5 billion pesetas to state-owned Tabacalera and signs a two-year rental agreement with a buy-back option during the same period.
1998
The Compañía General de Tabacos de Filipinas sells the building for 3.5 billion pesetas to state-owned Tabacalera and signs a two-year rental agreement with a buy-back option during the same period.
2003
Restoration work begins on the historic building.
2005
The four-star Hotel 1898 is inaugurated in September. It features 171 double guest rooms, including 6 suites.