Granada City Council

Granada City Council (Ayuntamiento de Granada) occupies a striking building on Plaza del Carmen, right in the heart of the city, just steps from Puerta Real and Gran Vía de Colón. It houses the local government today, but its layered history makes it a worthwhile stop for anyone curious how a 16th-century convent turned into a 19th-century civic institution.

Where does the building come from?

The city hall was not built as a city hall. Its story starts with a community of Discalced Carmelite friars who settled in Granada in 1552. The convent complex, together with its church, was raised between the late 1500s and early 1600s, and it gave the surrounding square its name — Plaza del Carmen. The convent was arranged around two separate cloisters, referred to at the time as the "old convent" and the "new convent." In 1622 the courtyard of the new convent was completed, ringed by 28 arches resting on Doric columns carved from Elvira stone — this is the section that survives today.

Church property across Spain was secularized in the 19th century, and the Carmen convent lost its original purpose. The convent church was torn down starting in 1837, and in 1848 the state handed the remaining buildings to the city so the municipal government — then housed in the old Cabildo Houses — could relocate there. In 1850 the complex was formally converted into the Casa Consistorial, Granada's city hall. In the early 20th century, architect Modesto Cendoya oversaw a major renovation of the façade and designed the monumental staircase that now leads up to the main representative floor.

What will you see?

The standout feature is the surviving cloister of the "new convent," which today forms the building's central entrance courtyard. The steady rhythm of its 28 stone arches and Doric columns still hints at the site's monastic origins, even though the space now serves as the entrance to municipal offices. Look out too for Cendoya's remodeled façade and the grand staircase, which gives the entrance a distinctly monumental feel.

The city hall sits on Plaza del Carmen, a small but lively square in the very center of Granada, ringed by cafés and shops — a natural stop before continuing on to explore the rest of the Centro district.

How do you get there?

Plaza del Carmen is within walking distance of most of central Granada's landmarks — the Cathedral, the Alcaicería, and Puerta Real. It also functions as a natural waypoint if you're heading from Gran Vía de Colón toward the Alhambra or the Albaicín quarter. From nearby car parks or bus stops it's typically just a few minutes on foot.

When should you visit?

As a working administrative building, the city hall operates on weekday office hours, so the courtyard is generally only accessible then. The square itself is open around the clock and looks its best early in the morning or in the evening, when foot traffic is lighter and temperatures are more bearable — Granada summers can get very hot.

Frequently asked questions

Can you go inside the city hall? The courtyard with the cloister is sometimes accessible during office hours, but since this is a working administrative building rather than a museum, there's no regular visitor program — access can vary depending on the council's daily business.

Is this the same building as the old Carmelite convent? Partly, yes. The convent church was demolished in the 19th century, but the 1622 cloister of the "new convent" survived and was incorporated into today's city hall as its entrance courtyard.

Is the Ayuntamiento de Granada the same as the Alhambra? No — they're entirely different sites. The Alhambra is the hilltop fortress-palace complex, while the Ayuntamiento is the municipal city hall in the city center on Plaza del Carmen, roughly a 15-minute walk away.

How long does a visit take? Since this is a functioning government building rather than a tourist attraction, seeing the façade and, if accessible, the courtyard usually takes just a few minutes — more of a stop along a city-center walk than a destination in itself.