Calle Real — now officially General Luna Street — runs through the old Iloilo City commercial centre and retains a remarkable row of early 20th-century commercial buildings from the American colonial period. The two- and three-storey structures have ornate facades in Neoclassical and Art Nouveau styles, their arched windows and decorative stonework still largely intact despite decades of neglect. Several have been restored and house restaurants, boutiques, and cultural spaces.
The street is the core of the effort to position Iloilo as a heritage tourism destination, and ongoing restoration work has made it significantly more presentable than it was a decade ago. Walking the full length of the remaining heritage block takes about 20 minutes and gives a vivid sense of how prosperous the city was in its sugar export heyday. The area connects naturally to the Iloilo River esplanade a few streets away.