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One of the buildings designed by Abelardo Lafuente.
WIKIPEDIA
Shanghai’s Hidden Spanish legacy Lives On in Historic Architecture
Shanghai,China – The echoes of a vibrant Spanish community,though diminished,continue to resonate within the architectural fabric of Shanghai,offering a tangible link to a bygone era of cultural exchange and sporting prowess.
In his 1924 travelogue, *A Novelist’s Journey Around the World*, Vicente Blasco Ibáñez chronicled a notable dinner held at the former consulate, now located at Huaihai 1431. during this gathering,he encountered the three most prominent Spaniards residing in the city. However, the true luminaries of the evening were the pelotaris, the skilled athletes of Basque pelota, whose presence lent an air of prestige to any social event they attended.
A vestige of this historical Spanish presence can still be observed in the structure that once housed the city’s most popular frontón, a court dedicated to Basque pelota. The Auditorium at South Shaanxi 132, while perhaps modest in size, retains its original staircases, a subtle testament to its past significance. Blasco Ibáñez himself characterized the spanish community in Shanghai as “small but prestigious,” a description that,against
