The Spanish City is a dining and leisure centre in Whitley Bay, a seaside town in North Tyneside, Tyne & Wear, England.

Erected as a smaller version of Blackpool's Pleasure Beach, it opened in 1910 as a concert hall, restaurant, roof garden and tearoom.

[2] Located near the seafront, the Spanish City has a 180 ft-long (54.8 m) Renaissance-style frontage and became known for its distinctive dome,[3] now a Grade II listed building.

His Toreadors Concert Party had entertained visitors with an open-air theatre in Whitley Park every summer since 1907, with the awnings decorated in the Spanish style.

[2] The building was formally opened by Robert Mason, chair of the local council, on the evening of Saturday, 14 May 1910, as The Spanish City and Whitley Bay Pleasure Gardens.

The dome was used as a classroom for pupils of Whitley Bay High School during a caretakers' strike in the 1980s, and later became a live music venue, playing host to several bands, including Ash in 2001.

Knopfler, who was born in Glasgow but grew up in Blyth, Northumberland, a few miles from the Spanish City, said it was the first place he had ever heard really loud rock and roll.

[11] A river cave ride named Ye Olde Mill featured floating boats which travelled through a tunnel with scenery such as a Swiss valley, an Indian jungle and a fairy castle.

In June 2011, architecture firm ADP won a commission to regenerate the Spanish City with a plan that included a 50-bed, four-star boutique hotel, 20 apartments, a 1950s diner and a pleasure garden.

[6] The town mentioned in the song, Cullercoats, is a stop on the train line (now part of the Tyne and Wear Metro) along the coast from Whitley Bay.