España Boulevard

España Boulevard is an 8–lane major thoroughfare in Manila, the capital city of the Philippines, named after the Spanish name of Spain, the country's colonial power for than 300 years. True to its name, several Spanish names abound the street. It starts at the Welcome Rotonda at the boundary of Quezon City and Manila and ends with a Y-intersection with Lerma and Nicanor Reyes Street in Manila.

España Boulevard
España Boulevard view north from the Morayta footbridge
Route information
Length	2.0 km (1.3 mi)
Component highways	R-7 R-7 N170
Major junctions
West end	N170 (Lerma Street) / Nicanor Reyes Street in Sampaloc, Manila
	N140 (Lacson Avenue) N161 (Blumentritt Road)
East end	N170 (Quezon Avenue) / Eulogio Rodriguez Sr. Avenue / Mayon Avenue in Quezon City
Location
Major cities	Manila, Quezon City
Highway system
Roads in the Philippines Highways Expressways List

History

España Boulevard during its usual afternoon rush hour traffic.

Aerial view near The University Belt

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".[1]

Notable landmarks

España Boulevard near University of Santo Tomas

The Welcome Rotonda, also called the Mabuhay Rotonda

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 and cabriolets 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 Avenue. 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 Avenue leads to A. Bonifacio Avenue then North Luzon Expressway (formerly North Diversion Road).

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 and trivia

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.[2]

Fernando Poe, Jr.'s funeral procession passed through España on its way to Manila North Cemetery from Sto. Domingo Church in Quezon City. As many 3 million people took part in the procession.[3]

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.[4] 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 will also provide access to the under-construction NLEX–SLEX Connector Road via España Exit.[5] The said extension will traverse over C-2 Road until it meets the NLEX Harbor Link in Caloocan.

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.[6]

Intersections

Province	City/Municipality	km	mi	Destinations	Notes
Quezon City				N170 (Quezon Avenue), Mayon Avenue, E. Rodriguez Sr. Avenue, Nicanor Ramirez Street	Welcome Rotonda. Goes to Quezon Memorial Circle via Quezon Avenue, New Manila & Cubao districts via E. Rodriguez Sr. Avenue, La Loma & Sta. Mesa Heights districts via Mayon Avenue.
Manila				Macaraig Street	Westbound only.
				Josefina Street
				Blumentritt Road	Traffic light intersection. Access to A. Bonifacio Avenue.
				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.
				NLEX–SLEX Connector Road	Future España Exit of the under-construction NLEX–SLEX Connector Road.
				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. Access to San Miguel district via Legarda Street.
				N140 (Arsenio H. Lacson Avenue)	Traffic light intersection. Access to SM San Lazaro (northbound) and SLEX via Nagtahan Bridge, Legarda station via Earnshaw Street (southbound).
				Valencia Street	Eastbound only.
				Extremadura Street	Eastbound only.
				Cayco Street	Eastbound only.
				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.
				Lerma Street, Nicanor Reyes (Morayta) Street	Terminus. Access to Quiapo district via Quezon Boulevard; Recto Avenue & Divisoria via Nicanor Reyes Street.
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Incomplete access       Unopened

References

1. http://varsitarian.net/filipino/usapang_uste/20091022/kung_bakit_espa%C3%B1a_ang_tawag_sa_espa%C3%B1a_boulevard
2. "8 dead as floods hit Luzon". Manila Bulletin. unavailable. Check date values in: |date= (help)
3. "MASSIVE SECURITY FOR FPJ BURIAL". Philippine Headline News Online. December 22, 2004. Archived from the original on January 18, 2005.
4. DOTC to review MRT 4 GOV.ph. Accessed July 25, 2006.
5. Lopez, Melissa Luz (November 5, 2019). "Work begins for NLEX-SLEX Connector road". CNN Philippines.
6. "Activists, cops clash near Malacañang; scores hurt". Sun Star Network Online. June 10, 2006. Archived from the original on June 22, 2006. Retrieved July 26, 2006.