Ciudad Real is the capital of the largest province in area in Castilla La Mancha and second in population. The city is home to 75,303 inhabitants (INE 2023), and it is located at the crossroads of the historic roads between Toledo and Andalusia, and Badajoz and Valencia. It belongs to the natural region of Campo de Calatrava, characterised by plains and located on the southern sub-plateau of the Iberian Peninsula. The city was founded in 1255 by Alfonso X, the Wise, for strategic reasons of territorial occupation, although hardly any medieval material vestiges remain. Since 1861 it has had a railway connection, which gained importance with its inclusion in the Madrid-Seville high-speed railway line in 1992. The city's economy is heavily based on services.

The lack of preservation of the historic ensemble seems to be a trademark of Ciudad Real, or at least that is how its inhabitants perceive it. The replacement of edifications in the 1960s and 1970s meant an increase in housing without the city expanding in area, like other congeners of similar size at the same time. In the second half of the 20th century, however, Ciudad Real received an important number of public facilities, from administrative buildings such as the Sindicatos or Diputación buildings, welfare buildings such as the Ciudad de Matrimonios, or the Hospital del Carmen, the Market, the sports centres of Puerta de Santa María or Rey Juan Carlos, or new neighbourhoods such as Santa María or Pío XII.

However, the demolition of the old Town Hall, or the current issues with the Alarcos Hospital, the Multiple Services Building or the former Health Department, share a succession of reports on the poor construction quality of the buildings and their construction materials, often to justify the replacement of the facilities. It remains to be studied whether the lack of constructive quality that has afflicted the public buildings of Ciudad Real over the years results from constant bad luck, popular belief or administrative inertia.