España Boulevard

España Boulevard
; R-7;
	España Boulevard view north from the Morayta footbridge
Former name(s)	Quezon Boulevard
Namesake	Spain
Length	2.048 km (1.273 mi)
Component; highways	R-7 R-7; N170;
Northeast end	Welcome Rotonda in Quezon City
Major; junctions	N161 (Blumentritt Road); N140 (Lacson Avenue);
Southwest end	N170 (Lerma Street) / Nicanor Reyes Street in Sampaloc, Manila
Construction
Construction start	1913

España Boulevard is an eight–lane major thoroughfare in Manila, the capital city of the Philippines, named after Spain, the country that formerly held the Philippines as an overseas territory. True to its name, several Spanish names abound the street. It starts at the Welcome Rotonda near the boundary of Quezon City and Manila and ends with a Y-intersection with Lerma and Nicanor Reyes Streets in Manila.

History

Before becoming what it is today, the boulevard was a part of the Hacienda de Sulucan, one of the ten barrios which formed Sampaloc. In 1694, the hacienda was donated to the sisters of the Monasterio de Santa Clara. In 1905, it was turned over to the Sulucan Development Corporation. The road was constructed in 1913 as an access road to Sulucan, under the condition that it be named "España".^[2]

As a part of the national road plan to connect the government center of Manila in Rizal Park to the proposed new capital on the Diliman estate, the boulevard was once part of or also known as Quezon Boulevard.^[1]

Notable landmarks

España is an east–west artery of Manila. It connects Lerma and Nicanor Reyes (formerly Morayta) streets of Sampaloc district at the west end to the Mabuhay (or Welcome) Rotonda, Quezon City at the east end. The entire street is straddled by a center island, which is only broken at major intersections and at the railroad crossing. Vehicles are allowed to make a left-turn only on two intersections: southward to Lacson Avenue and at the western terminus going to Nicanor Reyes Street. España is two kilometers long.

España's north side is its west-bound (Manila-bound) side, while the south side is its east-bound (Quezon City-bound) side. Buses, taxis, jeepneys, cabriolets, and UV Express vehicles serve the commuters.

Quezon City

At the eastern terminus is the Welcome Rotonda, also called the Mabuhay Rotonda, which connects España with Quezon Avenue, Eulogio Rodriguez, Sr. Avenue, and Mayon. Quezon Avenue leads to EDSA and ultimately to the Quezon Memorial Circle. E. Rodriguez, Sr. Avenue leads to Cubao district of Quezon City, a popular shopping place. Mayon leads to A. Bonifacio Avenue and ultimately to the North Luzon Expressway.

Manila

The first major intersection is Blumentritt Road. The Philippine National Railways tracks crosses the boulevard between Antipolo and Algeciras streets. The España railway station is also located here. Between Lacson Avenue and Padre Noval Street is the main campus of the University of Santo Tomas.

España ends at the junction of Nicanor Reyes (formerly called Morayta) and Lerma Streets. Nicanor Reyes Street leads to Claro M. Recto Avenue while Lerma Street, on the other hand, leads to Quezon Boulevard.

Notable events

España is infamous for its floods during the rainy season. This is because it serves as a catch basin for runoff water from higher elevated Quezon City, as Sampaloc used to be a swamp-marsh area. It is common to find people wading in waist-deep floods especially when a typhoon passes through Manila, causing suspension of classes.^[3]

On August 31, 1983, Marcos opposition figure and former senator Benigno Aquino Jr.'s funeral procession passed through España on its way to Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque from Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City. It was joined by millions of Filipinos.^[4] Fernando Poe, Jr.'s funeral procession also passed through España on its way to Manila North Cemetery from the same church on December 22, 2004. As many as 3 million people took part in the funeral procession.^[5]

A new mass-transit line has been planned several times to cross España, the first one being called as MRT-4, also called by some as the Red Line.^[6] The said MRT line will traverse the Boulevard until it reaches San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan which has been shelved in favor of MRT-7 line that diverted and cut short the terminus at North Avenue. After the MRT-7 proposal was awarded, the plans were revived to create a separate line for the remainder of the alignment from the original MRT-4 proposal that the MRT-7 left out which was named MRT-9 that was envisioned to traverse from Lerma to North Avenue. Subsequently, this was again shelved in favor of a BRT line that traverses from Lerma to UP Diliman but was again shelved now in favor of an unsolicited proposal put up by PNR and Alloy MTD using the same remaining MRT-4 and BRT alignment with the working project name "PNR East-West Rail" and is believed to be officially numbered Line 8, should the proposal push through.

The boulevard also provides access to NLEX Connector (NLEX–SLEX Connector Road) via Antipolo Street onto España Exit.^[7]

The house of the longest serving Mayor of Manila, Ramon Bagatsing, is in Kundiman Street, on the boulevard's north side. Many people used to flock to his residence as it was open to all his constituents, becoming the de facto public service assistance center for Manila's poor and underprivileged. Today, the Bagatsing compound extends all the way to the parallel street of Craig.

España is also frequently used by anti-government protesters as a gathering area due to its proximity to Mendiola, which ends at Malacañan Palace, the presidential residence.^[8]

Intersections

Intersections are numbered by kilometer post, with Rizal Park in Manila designated as kilometer zero.

Province	km^[9]	mi	Destinations	Notes
Quezon City			N170 (Quezon Avenue), Mayon Avenue, E. Rodriguez Sr. Avenue, Nicanor Ramirez Street	Welcome Rotonda. Northern terminus. Continues to Elliptical Road as Quezon Avenue.
Manila			Macaraig Street	Westbound only.
			Josefina Street
			N161 (Blumentritt Road)	Traffic light intersection.
			Sisa Street
			Instruccion Street
			Basilio Street
			Maceda (Washington) Street	Traffic light intersection.
			Metrica Street
			Craig Street
			Kundiman Street
			Eduardo Quintos Sr. Street
			San Diego Street
			Antipolo Street	Railroad crossing – PNR España Station. Access to España entry and exit ramps of NLEX Connector.
			Algeciras Street	Railroad crossing – PNR España Station.
			Prudencio Street
			Ruperto Cristobal Sr. (Constancia) Street
			Miguelin Street
			Vicente G. Cruz (Economia) Street	Traffic light intersection. One-way road.
			J. Marzan Street
			Manuel Dela Fuente (Trabajo) Street	Traffic light intersection. One-way road.
			Maria Cristina Street
			Don Quijote Street
			Carola Street	Eastbound only.
			Dos Castillas Street
			Earnshaw (Bustillos) Street	Eastbound only.
			N140 (Arsenio H. Lacson Avenue)	Traffic light intersection.
			Valencia Street	Eastbound only.
			Extremadura Street	Eastbound only.
			Cayco Street	Eastbound only.
	4	2.5	Quezon Drive	Westbound only. University of Santo Tomas internal road.
			Mariano Fortunato Jhocson Street	Eastbound only.
			Osmeña Drive	Westbound only. University of Santo Tomas internal road.
			Centro Street	Eastbound only.
			Moret Street	Eastbound only.
			Galicia Street	Eastbound only.
			Padre Noval Street	Traffic light intersection.
			Eloisa Street	Westbound only.
			Tolentino Street
			Adelina Street	Westbound only.
			Padre Campa Street
			Paquita Street	Westbound only.
			N170 (Lerma Street), Nicanor Reyes (Morayta) Street	Southern terminus.
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Incomplete access Unopened