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Update: Does That 47 Story Spanish High-Rise Have Elevators or Not?
In Tempo Skyscraper - Image: YouTube

Update: Does That 47 Story Spanish High-Rise Have Elevators or Not?

"The building is ugly as hell, to be sure, but it does have elevators. It's got not one, not two — it's got eleven"

Last week TheBlaze covered a story out of Spain that caught fire around the globe. We're referencing the tale of the In Tempo Towers, a luxury high-rise complex in the resort city of Benidorm that was allegedly built without elevators from the 21-st to 47th floors.

47 story Spanish Tower In Tempo Skyscraper - Image: YouTube

Tuesday, reports started swirling the web saying that the stories about the missing elevators are wrong. Many Spanish-speaking Twitter accounts were contradicting the English media reports on the lack of lifts on the upper sections of In Tempo. Even the Twitter account from the building has responded.

Intempo Tweets Image: Twitter

A loose translation from the Spanish language tweet agrees with the other posts about the elevator-less building says - "Indeed, are false and shows a lack of professionalism in the media."

Control Panel Elevator controls allegedly from the In Tempo Towers

Barcepundit, a Spanish blogger also posted a photo reportedly taken in the building that shows a control panel from the elevators. In his post, Barcepundit puts blame on a "bad translation" by Gizmodo.

According to the blog post, not only does the building have elevators, it reportedly has a lot of them. From Barcepundit:

The building is ugly as hell, to be sure, but it does have elevators. It's got not one, not two — it's got eleven: 3 in each of the towers (two of them high capacity for lifting furniture), plus 4 for the penthouses on top, plus a panoramic one on the outside. It takes less than one minute to ride on them from bottom to top.

The blog also states that CNN, CBS and other American news networks have dispatched crews to Benidorm to cover the story that now appears to be a non-story. CBS and CNN have not yet confirmed that they have crews on the ground in Benidorm. If and when those networks comment on this question, we will update this post.

Our review of a computer translation of the El Pais article that is rumored to have sparked the Gizmodo story showed something very interesting. The word "elevator" appears twice. The first time it is mentioned in reference to a 2011 construction accident when and elevator fell and injured 13 workers. The second mention seems to be the one that may have caused the confusion. (The text below is from a Google translation of the Spanish article from El Pais.)

In January 2012, a new surprise was not taken into account the elevator shaft, as is well seen in the promotional designs which consist not typical rooftop spaces dedicated to lifting engines. "The space was calculated for a 20-storey block," tell the same sources. And last May, the culmination, the architects of the project directors (Pérez Guerra's office and RADUAN Olcina and Architects) resigned. They have chosen to remain silent.

It is speculated that this translation could have caused Gizmodo to assume the project had no elevators above the 20th floor.

For additional clarification, TheBlaze contacted Walker Property Spain, the listing agent for the In Tempo complex and spoke with co-founder Ben Walker. In an animated conversation with Mr. Walker we learned that this listing agent was also uncertain about the existence of elevators above the 20th floor. Ben could "not confirm or deny" the reports about the missing lifts, but did say that his company's marketing pitch was taking the approach that the upper floor apartments might also include "the best fitness program available." (Meaning that owners above the 20th floor would be required to climb stairs to their apartments.)

During our discussion about the building and the city of Benidorm, Walker also said that this luxury high-rise was the start of an upscale shift for the resort town known more for blue collar vacations and drinking. TheBlaze referenced the British TV series "Benidorm" and Walker commented that the city was portrayed accurately on the show.

from Benidorm TV Image: YouTube.com

Follow Mike Opelka on Twitter - @stuntbrain

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