Tafalla, a town hall over the remains of a palace

The first council meetings, back in the 13th century, were held in the parishes of San Andrés and Santa María, although the first seat as such was in a house on Concepción Street, of humble appearance and masonry façade. At the beginning of the 16th century it must have moved to another building on Misericordia Street, in a conference room that the council leased to the brotherhood of Santa Catalina. It is there where on June 28, 1656 the deed of sale of the palace of the Marquises of Falces, located in the street of the Four Corners, today placeta de las pulgas, was made. It was used as a town hall until the construction of the current one, although it had to undergo a thorough renovation to adapt it to its new needs.

By the beginning of the 19th century, the town hall had become extremely small and obsolete, and presented great deficiencies that threatened the building itself. Faced with that status, the authorities, wishing to build a new building that would also house the almudí, the butchers, the fishmongers and the weight, and at the same time open a public place in the manner of the main squares of other Spanish cities, set their sights on the Royal Palace, by then very deteriorated. To this end, in 1853 they asked Queen Isabella II for the transfer of the land, a fact that was manifested two years later after report and project by Juan de Redecilla, architect of the Royal Academy.

training For no apparent reason, the town council of Tafalla dispensed with his services, commissioning new plans to the architect Martín Saracibar from Vitoria, who designed a rectangular "U" shaped place , inspired by the place Nueva of his native town, with an elevation similar to the traditional Spanish main squares: semicircular arched arcades, covering leave and mezzanine, and two upper floors open to the outside by individual balconies, all crowned by a cornice that runs around the perimeter.

Right in the center is the town hall, also built in ashlar and inaugurated on August 15, 1866. Its façade, with a more solid appearance, is highlighted by half columns and Tuscan pilasters on the ground floor leave, a continuous balcony with its corresponding wrought ironwork on the first level, triple individual balconies on the second, and a triangular pediment at the top. The latter includes a clock in the tympanum and ends with the coat of arms of the city, framed by twisted leather and garlands, and crowned by an open crown and weather vane. Inside, a wide entrance hall on the floor leave gives way to an elegant imperial staircase that leads to the main floor, where the conference room of sessions is located, open to the place. The ballroom or lyceum and other smaller rooms were located on the second floor.