The Royal Palace of Valladolid is located in the Plaza de San Pablo. It was inhabited by the monarchs Charles I, Philip II and Philip III and also by Napoleon during the War of Independence. It was also the birthplace of the future King Philip IV on 8 April 1605. In particular, the most unique thing about this palace is that it was the official residence of the kings of Spain when Valladolid was the seat of the Court.

It has come down to the present day with numerous structural alterations to its original layout, completed around 1528. It is currently the headquarters of the IV Subinspección General del Ejército de Tierra (4th General Sub-inspection of the Spanish Army).

Although the kings were often present in Valladolid, they did not have a Royal Palace. When the Court settled in Valladolid, the palace of Francisco de los Cobos fulfilled this function. Until then, they resided in the houses of nobles, with whom they had ties of friendship.

Francisco de los Cobos was Secretary of State under Charles V. Born in Úbeda, de los Cobos forged an impressive political career. In 1522 he married María de Mendoza y Sarmiento, daughter of the Counts of Ribadavia, thus achieving the rank of nobility that he had not been born with. De Los Cobos built his palace near his in-laws and close to the Church of San Pablo, according to a plan drawn up in 1524 by the royal architect Luis de Vega. It is arranged around a magnificent Renaissance courtyard.

Charles I lived in the palace during his stays in Valladolid and in 1537 Isabella of Portugal gave birth here to the infant John, who only survived for a few months. Philip II, still a prince, lived in the city's Royal Palace during his first marriage to Maria Manuela of Portugal and the birth of his first-born son Charles. Saint Teresa of Jesus lived in the Palace at the invitation of the Marquise of Camarasa when the nun arrived in Valladolid to found the first convent of the reform of the Order of Carmen in 1568.

In 1601, at the request of King Philip III of Spain's favourite, the Duke of Lerma, the court moved back to Valladolid, but moved again in 1606. It was during this time that the future Philip IV and his sister, Anne of Austria, who was to become Queen of France and mother of Louis XIV, were born in this Royal Palace. It was sumptuously decorated with paintings and furnishings.234 The second wedding of King Charles II, to Mariana of Neoburg, took place in 1690 in the church of the Convent of San Diego, within the Palace complex.

Napoleon Bonaparte stayed at the Royal Palace of Valladolid in January 1809, from where he prepared various war plans and left for his Central European wars.

Of its two courtyards, the first is unique for its two storeys of bell-shaped arches decorated with medallions attributed to Esteban Jamete and coats of arms of the different territories belonging to the Spanish Empire, and the second - better known as the Gallery of the Princes of Savoy - has semicircular arches and a central marble fountain decorated with mermaids. The wide main staircase, built at the end of the 18th century by Ventura Rodríguez, is reminiscent of the layout and proportions of the imperial staircase in the Alcázar of Toledo. In the 17th century, the new façade was designed with towers at the ends, the first two levels exhibiting a marked sobriety of motifs that came to be known as Herrerian, and the third, the alternating Palladian rhythm. This is now undergoing remodelling, rendering and new neo-Renaissance decoration at the beginning of the 20th century.

Since the 19th century it has housed the General Captaincy of the 7th Military Region of the Spanish Army. At the beginning of the 20th century important interventions were carried out, to reach the present day with numerous structural alterations to its primitive tracery.