Madrid's very own ultramodern twin version of the leaning tower of Pisa, this pair of highly controversial gravity-defying torres were built at the beginning of the booming '80s to symbolize a new economic dawn. The towers were financed by the Kuwaiti Investment Office (hence the name), and their completion was delayed well over a decade due to a financial scandal. Evocative icons of smoked glass and concrete, they now loom at the northern end of the Castellana Avenue on either side of Plaza Castilla like jet-age exit gates to the city.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Madrid, 3rd Edition, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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