Its red brick is visible from all over the bay, which the royal palace has looked out on since times of the "Belle Époque".
The Queen Regent María Cristina had this palace built at the end of the 19th century, to receive the Aristocracy during the summer. In line with fashion at the time, she wanted a building inspired by English country houses, to which end she hired the architect Selden Wornum. The location of the royal palace could not be better. On the small hillock which finishes at Pico del Loro, the point which marks the separation between the beaches of La Concha and Ondarreta, the area offers a splendid panorama of the bay and the city. The park is currently open for everybody to enjoy, whilst the Miramar Palace is used by the University of the Basque Country and Eusko Ikaskuntza (the Basque Studies Society) to hold summer courses.