The new Seville
An impressive heritage that has been brought up to date, works of art in 3D, new cultural spaces and even space tourism: the city has reinvented itself to make travellers fall in love with it more than ever before.
With an incredibly rich architectural heritage, an unbeatable folklore and a city full of perfectly instagrammable charming nooks and crannies, Seville could easily have decided to live off the rent guaranteed by its undeniable attractions. Nothing is further from the truth: many years ago it decided to look to the future and reinvent itself with innovative proposals and a defined green spirit.
A commitment that has already given fruit, as it has become the third most visited city in Spain and the one that is seeing the greatest boom in tourism, as well as being the host for the Goya Awards and important sporting events. As if this were not enough, it has been chosen to house the central offices for the Spanish Space Agency and honours and awards are being bestowed on the city left, right and centre; the latest being the distinction of European Capital of Smart Tourism 2023 by the European Commission.
Amongst the merits that have made it deserving of this award, its increasingly bike-friendly nature stands out, with an extensive network of bike lanes covering over 180 kilometres, benefitting from the city’s privileged weather and terrain. There are many guided visits for groups of cyclists, but we can also pedal around any of the tourist routes designed by the city council on our own. On two wheels, we will discover some the city’s greatest attractions, such as the iconic ‘Torre del Oro’, on the banks of the Guadalquivir river, where the gold that came from the Americas was stored and that now houses the Seville Naval Museum, or the ‘Palacio de San Telmo’ which has recently been restored and opened to the public.
The largest gothic cathedral in the world cannot be left off this route, where Christopher Columbus lies, as well as the Archive of the Indies, which houses over 8,000 maps and manuscripts by Columbus, Hernán Cortés or Pizarro.
We can also ride our bikes around two of the most emblematic districts of the city: Triana, with its pottery workshops and flamenco singing shows or ‘tablaos’, or Santa Cruz, full of typical Andalusian patios, colourful flowerpots and picturesque nooks and crannies.
Velázquez' house
One of the spaces that will become a new spotlight for tourists is the house where Velázquez was born. The house where the artist was born in 1599, at the time when trading with the Americas was in full swing, has been conserved next to the Cristo de Burgos square. This year, coinciding with the four hundredth anniversary of the painter being called to the Royal Court, it will become an interactive cultural centre, which, using latest generation technology, will take us closer to some of his paintings and will invite us to discover them from a very special point of view.
Another of the long-awaited openings this year is without any doubt that of the ‘Centro Magallanes de Industrias Culturales y Creativas’ (ICC – Magallanes Centre for Cultural and Creative Industries), which will open to the public coinciding with another important date: the five hundredth anniversary of the first around the world journey. With 10,000 square metres, it takes up half of the space in the historic Royal Artillery Factory of Seville and it will have an agenda full of cultural activities.
Gastro bar with a view
These new spaces have been added to others opened in recent years and that have become icons of the Andalusian capital city, such as the Metropol or Las Setas, the largest wooden structure in the world. A good example of how the city is combining historic heritage with fashionable proposals. In its lower part, amongst others, it houses the Antiquarium, with Roman remains and on the upper part, a gastro bar with panoramic views.
Fans of Game of Thrones will enjoy a visit to the Royal Alcazar of Seville, with all the charm of the Mudejar art of Al-Andalus, where they will be able to visit the ‘Patio of the Maidens (Patio de las Doncellas) or the gardens, which were used as the fictional region of Dorne in the television series.
From Seville to space
Space travel without having to be an astronaut? Space tourism is planned to start in 2024 from Seville. Organised by EOS-X, the flights in pressurised capsules will rise 40 km above the Earth, with a cost of 150,000 euros and lasting five hours.
