Schweppes, Tourist attraction in Centro, Madrid, Spain
Schweppes is a large neon sign mounted on the facade of the Carrión building on Gran Vía, in the Callao area of central Madrid. The sign sits about 120 feet (37 meters) above street level and is made up of 104 neon tubes in blue, yellow, pink, red and green.
The sign was installed in 1972, replacing an earlier advertisement for a tobacco brand that had occupied the same spot. In 2010, it was officially listed as a protected cultural asset after a city attempt to limit illuminated advertising left it untouched.
The Schweppes sign appears in the film El Día de la Bestia, in which the main characters climb its letters. That scene helped turn the sign into a widely recognized point of reference in the city's visual memory.
The sign is best seen from Plaza del Callao and the nearby stretch of Gran Vía, where the full front view is unobstructed. It is most visible after dark, when the lights go through their full color sequence.
Behind the sign are two rooms of the Vincci Capitol hotel that are decorated in a Schweppes theme, with a round bed and a floor featuring bubble motifs. Guests in those rooms can watch the lights change color right outside their window.
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