Madrid bomb threat forces evacuation of skyscraper housing embassies

Staff at Australian embassy received phone call with threat, police say

The Torre Espacio tower houses the British, Australian, Canadian and Dutch embassies in Spain (REUTERS/Juan Medina)

A skyscraper in Madrid that houses several embassies has been evacuated after a bomb threat, police have said.

Police later said the threat was false.

Staff at the Australian embassy in the Torre Espacio (Space Tower) skyscraper received a phone call with the threat, a spokeswoman for the National Police said, prompting the tower’s own security personnel to evacuate the building.

She said the tower had been evacuated by the time police arrived at the scene.

The British, Canadian and Dutch embassies in Spain are also located in the building in the Spanish capital’s financial district.

TV footage showed a police cordon and firefighters outside the building.

Spain’s National Police tweeted to say the skyscraper had been “evicted for security reasons”.

“Please, any person inside the building or in the immediate vicinity follow the instructions of the security personnel,” the force added.

A British embassy spokeswoman said its staff had been evacuated around midday (10am GMT) and were safely outside the building.

The Torre Espacio (Space Tower) skyscraper is located at the ‘Cuatro Torres’ (Four Towers) business area in Madrid (GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images)

The Australian embassy said on Twitter: “The Australian Embassy will remain close for the rest of today, Tuesday 16 April, until further notice. Apologies for any inconvenience.”

The tower is the fourth tallest in Spain and the 24th in Europe, with a height of 235m (770ft) and 57 floors.