Against the backdrop of the snow-capped Pyrenees mountains, deep in the Aragon valley, lies an imposing, beautiful building. Welcome to Canfranc Station, once an abandoned railway station, now a luxurious hotel.
Canfranc Station opened as an opulent rail hub in 1928, with an inauguration ceremony attended by both the King of Spain and the President of the French Republic; the hotel’s situated in Spain, but not far from the French border.
During World War II, Canfranc witnessed arrests, espionage and gold trafficking. By 1970, the station had closed its doors.
The station lay dormant for decades until work began to transform the still beautiful, but long neglected, building into a hotel operated by the Barcelo Hotel Group. After years of regeneration, Canfranc Station welcomed its first guests in January 2023.
Railway and history buffs officially have a new destination on their bucket list, while Mayor of Canfranc Fernando Sánchez Morales says locals have greeted the opening “with enthusiasm.”
“We are very satisfied to have the station alive and bright again,” Sánchez Morales tells CNN Travel.
Source – CNN