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DEBUNKED: That rumor about the 47-story Spanish skyscraper with no elevator shafts is a lie
DEBUNKED: That rumor about the 47-story Spanish skyscraper with no elevator shafts is a lie
Megan WillettMar 13, 2015, 00:30 IST
Chances are your Facebook feed or Twitter has been flooded by people sharing a story of a 47-story skyscraper in Spain that was built without elevator shafts.The problem is that the story is almost two years old and was debunked just as swiftly as it came out.The building in question is the skyscraper InTempo in the Benidorm beach resort in Spain that was designed by Spanish architect Roberto Perez Guerras. Back in August 2013, a Spanish newspaper El Pais wrote a report titled "InTempo, an incompetence of high stature" which alleged that sources told the paper that the building didn't have an elevator shaft after the architectural plans were expanded from 20 stories to 47 stories: In January 2012, there was a new surprise: the elevator shaft had not been taken into account, as the promotional designs clearly show. "The space was calculated for a 20-story building," said the same sources. There were also allegations of workers being injured on the job and working without pay, according to El Pais, in addition to other hold ups and problems in the construction process.The report was picked up by numerous news outlets at the time, with the New York Daily News extrapolating that there was no solution to the problem "because of the way the building was constructed, there is no space for a shaft anywhere." But speaking with architecture magazine Dezeen a few weeks later, the developer said that all media reports about the project were wrong:Rafael Ballesta, sales manager for the Edificio Intempo residential towers, described the media storm as "ridiculous" and said: "We are constructing the highest residential skyscraper in Europe so how is it possible to build without elevators?"Ballesta went on to tell DeZeen that the towers each featured six elevators. The InTempo Twitter page also defended that there were indeed elevators as well as elevator shafts and Spanish journalist Raquel López went to the site and rode in the elevator herself, posting pictures and context on her blog. The building was finished in March of 2014 with 120 of its 269 apartments sold at the time. According to the Latin Times, the price for a one-bedroom luxury apartment was as high as €358,000.
