BBVA Madrid HQ: La Vela, Office Photos & Benefits

THE HEADQUARTERS · CIUDAD BBVA, MADRID

A small town of offices around La Vela

Herzog & de Meuron drew on the squares and lanes of Mediterranean towns. Seven three-storey buildings — named after the continents — sit around a garden plaza about 100 m across, linked by covered bridges with meeting rooms, and La Vela, an oval 19-storey tower, rises from the plaza. Between the buildings run five streets named after oceans and seas, shaded by awnings and climbing plants. Inside there are no closed offices; a 1,600 m² double-height trading floor holds 400 traders under four video walls. The architects kept and stripped back eight unfinished office buildings already on the site.

La Vela · 93 m, 19 floors
7 low-rises named after continents
Plaza ≈ 100 m across
450 trees, 2.5 ha of gardens
Pool, gym, nursery on site
LEED Gold

The plaza and La Vela

La Vela, an oval 19-storey tower 93 m tall, rises from a garden plaza about 100 m across, surrounded by seven three-storey buildings.

Oval tower framed by two curving three-storey office wings around a planted courtyard — La Vela between the low-rises · © Herzog & de Meuron

Oval tower seen down a long courtyard between glazed office wings at dusk — Looking toward La Vela · © BBVA

Illuminated oval tower at night reflected in a long water channel between buildings — La Vela at night · © BBVA

Curved tower façade with horizontal shading fins seen from below beside a young tree — La Vela from below · © BBVA

Oval glass tower above a low-rise complex with green roofs, with skyscrapers on the horizon — Ciudad BBVA and the Madrid skyline · © BBVA

Oval tower behind a low-rise building with white vertical fins and a garden in front — From the street · Zarateman / CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

Lit oval tower at dusk with a row of skyscrapers in the distance — La Vela at dusk · Alberto de Francisco / CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Lanes, patios and gardens between the low-rises

Five streets named after oceans and seas run between the low-rises, shaded by awnings and climbing plants, with 450 trees and 2.5 ha of gardens on the campus.

Covered walkway under a curving concrete canopy beside glazed office wings, with outdoor tables — Covered lane · © Herzog & de Meuron

Curving bridge and glazed walkways crossing a courtyard between office buildings — Bridges over a patio · © Herzog & de Meuron

Long lane between office buildings with plants hanging from the upper levels — A lane with climbing plants · © BBVA

White fabric awnings stretched over a lane next to tree leaves — Awnings over a lane · © BBVA

Water falling into a narrow channel beside a rough concrete wall — Water channel · © BBVA

Close-up of white vertical shading fins with bare tree branches against the sky — Shading fins · © BBVA

Long low-rise building wrapped in sculpted white vertical fins under a blue sky — Low-rise façade · Luis García (Zaqarbal) / CC BY-SA 3.0 es · Wikimedia Commons

White-finned low-rise building with a landscaped path and the curved top of the tower behind — Low-rise and La Vela · Zarateman / CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

Inside: open offices, stairs and the trading room

Inside there are no closed offices, and a 1,600 m² double-height trading floor holds 400 traders under four video walls.

Wooden staircase seen from above inside a concrete hall — Staircase · © Herzog & de Meuron

Concrete ramp with black railings under a columned canopy — Ramp to the upper level · © Herzog & de Meuron

Atrium with stacked glazed floors and a staircase seen through a concrete frame — Atrium · © BBVA

Large canteen with long tables, orange pendant lights and a glowing glass kiosk — Canteen · © BBVA

Bar counter with stools and small round tables beside a concrete wall — Café · © Herzog & de Meuron

Room with round tables under a sloping concrete ceiling and tall curtained windows over the city — Top of La Vela · © Herzog & de Meuron

View through a large opening over green roofs of the low-rise buildings toward the city — Roof gardens from above · © Herzog & de Meuron

Auditorium with curved rows of pale seats and a dark ceiling — Auditorium · © Herzog & de Meuron

Construction: from eight unfinished buildings to Ciudad BBVA

The architects kept and stripped back eight unfinished office buildings already on the site; construction ran from 2009 to 2015.

Unfinished concrete office frame with brick walls and a crane — An unfinished building on the site · © Herzog & de Meuron

Aerial view of the construction site with the tower's oval core rising from the plaza — The site from the air · © Herzog & de Meuron

Tower under construction with cranes and green safety netting — La Vela going up · © Herzog & de Meuron

Concrete spiral staircase under construction inside an unfinished building — A spiral stair under construction · © Herzog & de Meuron

Source: bbva.com — “Así es ‘La Vela’, la nueva sede de BBVA” (2015), “Ciudad BBVA: A design by Herzog & de Meuron for digital transformation” (2015) · Herzog & de Meuron project page

Ciudad BBVA, Las Tablas

Building	Address
Ciudad BBVA (La Vela and seven low-rises) — corporate headquarters	Calle Azul, 4, 28050 Madrid, Spain
Palacio de San Nicolás — registered office	Plaza de San Nicolás, 4, 48005 Bilbao, Spain

Source: Form 20-F 2025 (cover page and Item 4) · shareholdersandinvestors.bbva.com, Investor Relations contacts · See them on the map ↓

ArchitectHerzog & de Meuron (Basel / Barcelona)

Executive architectsCBRE FM Arquitectos · Ortiz y León Arquitectos

EngineeringArup (structure, building services, façade)

LandscapeVogt Landschaftsarchitekten and others

Gross floor area (architect)251,979 m² (2,712,276 sq ft), of which 138,393 m² below ground

Complex (BBVA)114,000 m² (≈ 1,227,000 sq ft)

Site area59,125 m² (636,415 sq ft)

La Vela93 m (305 ft), 19 floors

BuiltCompetition 2007 · construction 2009–2015

CertificationLEED Gold

Sun shading2,800+ fixed brise-soleils in 20 types; 49,000 m² of glass façade

ParkingUp to 3,000 cars underground

Source: Herzog & de Meuron project page “324 New Headquarters for BBVA” · bbva.com — “Así es ‘La Vela’” (2015), “Ciudad BBVA: A design by Herzog & de Meuron” (2015). BBVA's 2018 article gives 823,490 sq ft for the office space; the architect's figure includes the car parks below ground.

Benefits (Spain)

Remote workUp to 40%

Of working time, where the role allows; from up to two home addresses in Spain (2022).

Parental pay100%

BBVA Spain tops up maternity and paternity benefits to full pay during the leave.

Medical hours10 h / year

Paid hours for check-ups and tests for employees and first-degree family members.

After a birthContinuous day

Option of a continuous working day up to the child's first birthday, after birth or adoption.

Child with a disability22 days

Paid working days within the first three years after birth or adoption.

Bereavement leave15 days

For the death of a spouse, partner or child (up from 5).

On-site servicesPool & nursery

Semi-Olympic pool, sports and physiotherapy centre, nursery and health centre at Ciudad BBVA.

First school week1 h / day

Unpaid leave to take children under 5 to school in the first week of term.

Source: bbva.com — “BBVA implanta el teletrabajo de forma definitiva” (Mar 2022), “BBVA implements flexibility and work-life balance measures for its workforce in Spain” (Equality Plan), “Work life balance, more important than ever” (2021), King and Queen visit (2018)

How BBVA keeps people, in its own words

40%Remote work

Since 2022, employees in Spain whose role allows it can work remotely up to 40% of their time, planned by quarter.

0Closed offices

At Ciudad BBVA everyone works in open areas with formal and informal meeting spaces, to share knowledge and decide faster.

650+International moves

More than 650 professionals have taken part in BBVA's international development programs in recent years (2023).

≈ 100Equality Plan measures

An Equality Plan agreed unanimously with the unions in Spain, with targets for a balanced presence of women and men at every level.

On siteLife at the campus

A nursery, a sports and physiotherapy centre, a semi-Olympic pool, cafeterias and shops inside Ciudad BBVA.

Source: bbva.com — “BBVA implanta el teletrabajo de forma definitiva” (2022), “Ciudad BBVA: A design by Herzog & de Meuron” (2015), “BBVA provides international development programs” (2023), Equality Plan article

Who works here

Where they work · Dec 31, 2025 (127,174)

Mexico 37.5%Spain 23.2%Rest of Latin America 19.3%Turkey 17.1%Other 2.9%

127,174

employees, Dec 31, 2025

47,745

in Mexico, the largest country

29,479

in Spain

≈ 6,000

at Ciudad BBVA, Madrid

Source: Form 20-F 2025, Item 6.D “Employees” · bbva.com (Ciudad BBVA)

Office history: from Calle Estufa in Bilbao to La Vela in Madrid

1857
A small office in Bilbao
Banco de Bilbao opened on August 24, 1857 in a modest head office at number 7 of what was then Calle Estufa, beside the river in Bilbao. It had 106 founders.
Source: bbva.com, “A brief history of BBVA (I)” · “La memoria de BBVA, su Archivo Histórico”

View of Bilbao, mid-19th century · Percival Skelton (19th c.) via bbva.com
1860s
The San Nicolás Palace
After the banking crises of the 1860s, Banco de Bilbao moved to the San Nicolás Palace at Plaza de San Nicolás 4. It later bought the neighbouring buildings and opened a new street, still called Calle del Banco de Bilbao. The palace is BBVA's registered office today.
Source: bbva.com, “A brief history of BBVA (II)” and “(III)” · Form 20-F 2025

San Nicolás Palace, Bilbao · © BBVA Historical Archive
1903
Banco de Vizcaya on Gran Vía 1
Banco de Vizcaya, founded on March 26, 1901 at Calle Vidaurreta 12, moved to Calle Viuda de Epalza and then, in 1903, to Gran Vía 1 in Bilbao, where it stayed.
Source: bbva.com, “A brief history of BBVA (III)”

Gran Vía 1, Bilbao · Fred Romero / CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
1988
Banco de Bilbao + Banco de Vizcaya = BBV
The two Bilbao banks merged into BBV; the first joint board met in the San Nicolás Palace.
Source: shareholdersandinvestors.bbva.com, “History of BBVA” · bbva.com, “La memoria de BBVA”

No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it.
1999
BBV + Argentaria = BBVA
BBV merged with Argentaria; the merger process ended in 2001.
Source: shareholdersandinvestors.bbva.com, “History of BBVA”

No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it.
2009
Two head offices: Bilbao and Madrid
BBVA listed two head offices: Gran Vía 1 in Bilbao and Paseo de la Castellana 81 in Madrid.
Source: BBVA Annual Report 2009, “The BBVA group's network of offices in Spain”

Torre BBVA, Paseo de la Castellana 81, Madrid · Pavlemadrid / CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
2015
Ciudad BBVA and La Vela
Herzog & de Meuron won the 2007 competition; construction ran from 2009 to 2015. By September 2015 the new Madrid headquarters in Las Tablas housed 6,000 people. In 2018 the King and Queen of Spain unveiled a plaque on La Vela.
Source: Herzog & de Meuron project page · bbva.com, “Así es ‘La Vela’” (2015), “King and Queen of Spain visit Ciudad BBVA” (2018)

No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it.

Map: how the headquarters moved

Four Bilbao addresses within a few hundred metres of the river, then a jump of about 320 km to Madrid — first to the Castellana, then north to Las Tablas.

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1 · 1857Calle Estufa 7, Bilbao — Banco de Bilbao's first office
2 · 1860sPlaza de San Nicolás 4, Bilbao — San Nicolás Palace — registered office to this day
3 · 1903Gran Vía 1, Bilbao — Banco de Vizcaya's head office
4 · 2009Paseo de la Castellana 81, Madrid — Madrid head office
5 · 2015Calle Azul 4, Madrid — Ciudad BBVA — headquarters today

Addresses: bbva.com history series · BBVA Annual Report 2009 · Form 20-F 2025

What BBVA does

BBVA is a retail and corporate bank with its biggest businesses in Spain, Mexico, Turkey and South America. It reports gross income by business area.

Five business areas plus the Corporate Center: Spain, Mexico, Turkey, South America and Rest of Business.

Where the money came from · gross income by business area, 2025

MexicoBBVA México

€15.2B

SpainHome market

€10.0B

South AmericaArgentina, Colombia, Peru and others

€5.4B

TurkeyGaranti BBVA

€5.2B

Rest of BusinessEurope, U.S., Asia

€1.8B

Source: Form 20-F 2025, operating segments (Corporate Center −€0.7B not shown)

Gross income, 2025€36.9Bup 4.1% in a year

Net attributable profit, 2025€10.5Bup 4.5%

Branches5,6421,871 in Spain, 3,771 abroad

Gross income per employee€0.29M€36.9B ÷ 127,174

Source: Form 20-F 2025 · per-employee figure calculated by eciffo

Growth: revenue vs. people

1.8×gross income, 2020 → 2025
€20.2B → €36.9B

1.03×employees, same years
123,174 → 127,174

YearRevenueEmployees

FY2019

€21.5B

126,973

FY2020

€20.2B

123,174

FY2021

€21.1B

110,432

FY2022

€24.7B

115,675

FY2023

€29.5B

121,486

FY2024

€35.5B

125,916

FY2025

€36.9B

127,174

Gross income and employees at December 31: Form 20-F 2021 (2019–2020), 2022 (2021), 2023 (2022, restated), 2025 (2023–2025). Employees fell in 2021 after the sale of BBVA USA. Multiples calculated by eciffo.

Chief executives

No free-to-use photo.

2018 – today

Onur Genç

Chief Executive Officer since December 20, 2018.

No free-to-use photo.

2015 – 2018

Carlos Torres Vila

CEO from May 2015 to December 2018; Chair since December 2018.

Banco de Bilbao was founded in 1857 by 106 shareholders from Bilbao's Board of Trade, led by Pablo de Epalza; Banco de Vizcaya followed in 1901.

Source: Form 20-F 2025, Item 6 · bbva.com, “A brief history of BBVA (I)” and “(III)”

BBVA's official social accounts

BBVA's official channels.

YouTubeyoutube.com/@BBVA ↗Newsroombbva.com ↗Investorsshareholdersandinvestors.bbva.com ↗

BBVA: questions people ask

Where is BBVA's headquarters?

BBVA operates from Ciudad BBVA, Calle Azul 4, 28050 Madrid. Its registered office is the San Nicolás Palace, Plaza de San Nicolás 4, Bilbao.

Source: Form 20-F 2025

Who designed Ciudad BBVA and La Vela?

Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, who won the 2007 competition; executive architects were CBRE FM Arquitectos and Ortiz y León Arquitectos, with engineering by Arup.

Source: Herzog & de Meuron project page

How tall is La Vela?

93 metres (305 ft), with 19 floors. It rises from a garden plaza about 100 metres across.

Source: bbva.com · Herzog & de Meuron project page

How big is Ciudad BBVA?

BBVA describes a 114,000 m² complex for 6,000 employees; the architect gives 251,979 m² gross floor area including 138,393 m² below ground.

Source: bbva.com (2015) · Herzog & de Meuron project page

When did BBVA move to Ciudad BBVA?

Construction ran from 2009 to 2015; by September 2015 the campus housed 6,000 professionals. Before that BBVA's Madrid head office was at Paseo de la Castellana 81.

Source: bbva.com, “Así es ‘La Vela’” (2015) · Annual Report 2009

Does BBVA allow remote work?

Yes. Since 2022, employees in Spain whose role allows it can work remotely up to 40% of their time, organised by quarter, from up to two homes in Spain.

Source: bbva.com, March 2022

What facilities are there for employees at Ciudad BBVA?

A nursery, a sports and physiotherapy centre, a semi-Olympic swimming pool, cafeterias, restaurants and shops.

Source: bbva.com (2015)

Can you visit Ciudad BBVA?

BBVA's visitor site asks visitors to request access in advance; parking can be requested there too.

Source: visitas.bbva.com

How many people work at BBVA?

127,174 employees at the end of 2025, including 47,745 in Mexico, 29,479 in Spain and 21,725 in Turkey.

Source: Form 20-F 2025

When was BBVA founded?

Its oldest root, Banco de Bilbao, opened on August 24, 1857 in Bilbao. BBV was formed in 1988 and BBVA in 1999.

Source: bbva.com history series · shareholdersandinvestors.bbva.com

BBVA Headquarters & offices · Madrid, Spain

A 93-metre tower called La Vela rising out of a 100-metre garden plaza, where 6,000 people work with no closed offices.