History

The building

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Duquesa Suites Barcelona is located in a stately building from the late Eighteenth century that has been renovated into a luxury hotel, which was inaugurated in 2016.

The building, located on number 1 Passeig Colom and number 5 Plaça d’Antonio López, was bought in the late Eighteenth century by the broker Gil Grau for private use, when the building was still facing the Sea Wall. Once it was demolished, Sociedad Banco Vitalicio bought the building in 1890 and set up its offices there.

In 1919, the engineer and businessman Josep M. Roviralta bought the building and, during the Spanish Civil war in 1938, it was damaged after the bomb attacks. Since the 1980s and until its purchase by its current owners, the building housed different offices of the Catalan Government.

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The Reina Victoria Eugenia ocean liner

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The Reina Victoria Eugenia ocean liner was built with a steel hull by the British shipbuilders Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson. In 1913 it was delivered to Compañía Transatlántica, a Spanish ocean liner company founded in Barcelona back in 1881.

500 feet in length, top speed approaching 20 knots and capacity for 1,500 passengers distributed in 4 classes, the Reina Victoria Eugenia became one of the most luxurious ocean liners of its time alongside its twin ship Infanta Isabel de Borbón.

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