Of all the guests who have passed through this house, none is more closely bound to it than José Rodríguez Losada. In September 1863 he returned to Madrid and stayed with us, when the establishment was known as the Hotel de los Príncipes. A Spanish watchmaker of Leonese origin established in London, he was already one of the most prestigious chronometer makers in Europe.
On 21 September, the Madrid press announced his arrival in these terms:
The celebrated London watchmaker, our compatriot Mr. Losada, arrived at court yesterday. He is staying at the Hotel de los Príncipes.
Three years later he would give the city the clock of the Real Casa de Correos, standing right in front of our balconies. Since 1866 its mechanism has marked the hours over Puerta del Sol and, every New Year’s Eve, accompanies the most famous bells in Spain.
This is why no other traveller is so tied to our history. The clock that millions of people around the world watch on the last night of the year is the work of a guest who lodged opposite this very square, only a few metres from where the heart of the country beats each New Year’s Eve.
Trained in London, Losada became a master renowned for the precision of his marine chronometers and for timepieces that rivalled the finest British workshops. His gift of the Puerta del Sol clock was a gesture of Spanish pride that bound him forever to the heart of Madrid.
As a curiosity, the house remained a point of reference for his family. In December 1874, his nephew, heir and successor, Norberto Rodríguez de Losada, also stayed with us on arriving in Madrid with his wife and family, as the press of the time reported.
