Spanish hotel’s creepy resemblance to ‘Squid Game’ | Photos
A picturesque hotel in Spain is going viral after the millions of viewers that tuned into Squid Game noted a chilling similarity between the two.
If you’re one of the many millions of people who tuned in to watch Squid Game over the past month, you’ve no doubt got that brightly coloured maze of stairs forever burned into your brain.
The dystopian South Korean drama is the most popular show ever on Netflix, reaching more than 111 million viewers.
And as many begin to embrace and play non-lethal versions of the games featured on Squid Game, others are turning their attention to the incredible sets.
Enter La Muralla Roja, a housing estate designed by Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill, on the cliffs of Spain’s east coast.
The estate, which is home to dozens of permanent residents and features a number of apartments available on Booking.com, was built back in the 1960s and 1970s in the region of Calpe, five hours east of Madrid.
La Muralla Roja stands on the Spanish coast at the top of a cliff, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.
Via Booking.com, travellers keen for their own taste of Squid Game can book an apartment for as little as $A395 a night.
In English, La Muralla Roja means ‘The Red Wall’ and it’s easy to see the comparisons between it and Squid Game.
Both La Muralla Roja and the central Squid Game set, where the players are forced to walk through before playing their next game, both feature a maze of stairs.
Both are brightly coloured and both appear to almost be an optical illusion, with twists, turns and doors littered throughout the maze.
La Muralla Roja appears fortress-like, similar to Squid Game, and its bright walls shield courtyards within the estate.
Architectural photographer Sebastian Weiss travelled to Spain in 2019 to photograph the iconic estate.
“I think the remarkable aspects are the enormous geometrical reduction, the radical simplicity and visual severity of the building, considering the growing mass tourism on the Spanish coast at that time – it was completed in 1973,” Mr Weiss said.
“It kind of represents a fortress, which seals itself off from the public and in which the inner courtyards and lanes resemble the confusing layouts of the old souks of north Africa."
Bofill, who is famous for his use of bold colours on his architectural projects, contrasted the pinks and reds with some blue sections in La Muralla Roja.
Mr Weiss said the estate felt like moving through the “set of a “movie production” and it was often used for photo shoots.
“It was difficult not to disturb the residents of the building,” he said.
“Nearly every day photo shoots take place, mostly fashion shootings with several persons, so the inhabitants are annoyed of these happenings. Voices echo very much in the inner courtyard, also every camera trigger mechanism, every step and word can be heard easily.”
The apartment on Booking.com features sea views and a terrace to enjoy the Mediterranean sunsets.
The nearest airport is Alicante Airport, 65 km from the apartment, and it has a rating of 9.8 on the site.
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