InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has signed a franchise agreement to open a Hotel Indigo in Madrid, the first opening by the boutique brand in continental Europe.

The 89-room hotel, owned by Orion, is scheduled to open in the spring of 2012 and will be in the centre of the city, close to the Opera House, the Almudena cathedral and the main museums in the area. Hotel Indigo is IHG's newest brand - its rollout commencing in January 2009 with the opening of the Hotel Indigo London Paddington in the UK - with 34 hotels currently open and a further 52 in the pipeline worldwide. Further debuts are scheduled for both later this year, when the Hotel Indigo Shanghai, China, opens to guests in the autumn, and at the end of 2012, when the Hotel Indigo Bangkok Wireless Road in Thailand opens.

IHG already has a presence in Spain, operating three InterContinental hotels, one Crowne Plaza, four Holiday Inn and 22 Holiday Inn Express hotels.