Plaza de España, Seville

Next stop was the Plaza de Espana.
In 1929, Seville hosted the Ibero-American Exposition World’s Fair and the entire southern end of the city was redeveloped into an expanse of gardens and grand boulevards. Plaza de Espana was a principal building built on the Maria Luisa Park's edge to showcase Spain's industry and technology exhibits. It is a mix of 1920s art deco and Spanish Renaissance Revival, Spanish Baroque Revival and Neo-Mudejar styles. It is a huge half circle with the buildings accessible by four bridges over the moat, which represent the ancient kingdoms of Spain. In the centre is the Vicente Traver fountain.

Many tiled alcoves were built around the plaza, each representing a different province of Spain.

Today the buildings of the Plaza de España have been renovated and adapted for use as offices for government agencies. The Plaza de España has been used as a filming locations for scenes from Lawerence of Arabia, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones and a few tv shows.

It is a vast space and I’m sure would look even more impressive against a bright sky. The tiles used to cover the surfaces, the bridges over the small canal, it is a very lovely site. We did think it would be lined with cafes so we could take a break but that wasn’t the case. Instead we got to watch a flamenco dancer here performing a segment of the show they offer. It was amazing how fast they dance and very impressive.Read more