The tallest building in Spain and a military stucture throughout Europe is the Marine radio station Guardamar del Segura, which reaches the height of 365 meters. Its main purpose is to transmit messages to submarines while they are submerged. Almost universally, this station is informally known as «American tower», because its construction was funded by the US government and since the mid-60s of the last century, it has worked for the needs of the naval base of this country’s Navy.
Now the antenna located on the «American tower» transmits voice and other messages to submarines that are assigned to the military base in Cartagena. Due to the fact that these vessels do not need to rise up to the surface for receiving the signal, it becomes increasingly difficult to detect them. The station, which covers an area of 625,000 square meters, operates continuously 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and at the same time there are 30 employees on its territory – 27 military and 3 civilian. Last year, tours for tourists were organized here under strict supervision of security, but later it was decided to abandon this practice.
Among the other most famous «high-rises» in Spain, the heating station As Pontes de García Rodríguez (La Coruna), Torre Espacio (Madrid), Torre de Collserola (Barcelona), In Tempo and Hotel Bali are worth to be mentioned. The last two buildings are located in Benidorm, which is rightly described as «Spanish Manhattan».
