World’s Trashiest Hotel Opens in Madrid, Spain

If you’ve ever wondered how 12 tons of garbage put to a very unlikely use might look, this past weekend was your chance to find that out: Corona’s Save the Beach organization opened the world’s trashiest hotel in Madrid.

The initiative is meant to underline the need for action in the case of some of Europe’s dirtiest beaches, which is where the garbage was collected, The Independent reports.

The idea, as the Reuters video embedded at the end of the article will also show, was not to have the hotel rival The Plaza, but rather to make people aware of the amount of garbage that is being washed up ashore.

As it turns out, it’s a lot – enough to build an entire hotel out of it, to go for the obvious joke. On a more serious note, artist HA Schult says the construction is a parable of our modern times and the damage we’re doing to the environment.

“It shows the damages that we are causing to the sea and the coast,” the artist explains.

“It reflects how things can end up if we do not take care of our planet. We live in the era of trash, and we run the risk of becoming trash. Do we really want such a world?” he asks.

He also says that the trash hotel is also meant to show the world that we humans are only “renting” everything on this planet so it would be in our best interest if we treated those things with the care and respect they deserve.

That, of course, also includes the beaches.

A handful of lucky and brave people also got the chance to experience first-hand what it’s like to sleep with all that garbage lying around.

“Using the campaign’s website, Corona has also selected individuals who will get to stay a night in one of the hotel’s five double rooms, promising that they ‘will not enjoy the comforts of a luxury hotel but live an experience with a strong environmental commitment’,” The Independent says.

Below is a video introduction of the hotel, as done by Reuters. After it is a video of how the hotel was built. Enjoy.