Seville Tourist Information

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Photo: Cherry RockSeville is home to flamenco and bullfighting

Seville is the hottest city in Spain and probably Europe
Andalucia is the most geographically varied region in Iberia
For the best view of Seville climb up the Giralda
Seville is Spain's fourth largest city

Seville basics

Seville is a holiday city that knows how to enjoy life. It's home to two of Spain's great festivals, one at Easter and another two weeks later,in April.

Seville is the ultimate late-night city and home to flamenco, bullfighting and tapas. It's everyone's image of the real Spain. If you like destinations to match national stereotypes, Seville won't disappoint.

Seville also has it's problems. Unemployment is high and drug addiction pretty common. Pickpockets and bag snatchers are commonplace, often whizzing around on scooters.

Seville is also a relatively expensive city with hotel rooms pricier than in most of Spain and near impossible to find during the two great Seville holiday festivals of Semana Santa and the Feria de Abril. However, the positives massively outweigh the negatives.

Seville sits on the River Guadalquivir with most of the attractions on the east bank where the central area is full of old streets, churches and squares in the Barrio Santa Cruz and El Arenal.

Seville history

Seville's greatest monuments reflect the city's Moorish and Christian heritage. The city was Muslim for 500 years from 712 until its reconquest by Ferdinand III. Moorish architecture remained dominant under the Christians, producing the Mudéjar style.

It was the Moorish Almohads that built the Alcazar palace- although most of today's structure is from the Christian period - and what was then the world's tallest building - the Giralda tower, originally the Seville city mosque's minaret.

Seville Cathedral is said to house the remains of Christopher Columbus, although there are doubts about their authenticity. His discovery of the New World led to a Seville boom. The riverside Torre del Oro is where the Spanish empire's gold and silver was stored.

Modern Seville

More recent years saw Seville stage two major events that transformed the city. In 1929, the Fair of the Americas led to the massive Plaza de Espanya and many national pavilions.

The Expo of 1992 led to a complete overhaul of Seville's infrastructure and an improved airport. Some of the Expo sites now look neglected but Seville is seeing the emergence of its much heralded tram/metro system.

Seville language

Hola/Adios Hello/Goodbye
Por Favor/Gracias Please/Thank you
Si/No Yes/No-
1 un/uno/una 2 dos 3 tres 4 cuatro 5 cinco

Spanish, heavily accented, is spoken in Seville. English is quite widely spoken but a few words of Spanish will be appreciated in restaurants and cafes.

Seville holiday money

The Euro is the local currency. There are many ATMs and a wide range of banks. Do be careful at ATMs as pickpockets pry on the day-dreaming tourist.

Seville holiday emergencies

Dial 061 for an ambulance. The local police number is 092 while the national police is 091. For medical services, go to the Centro de Salud El Porvenir (955 03 78 17) or Hospital Virgen del Rocio (955 01 20 00).

Seville holiday telephones

To telephone Spain, dial 00 34 followed by the local number. To call the UK from Spain, dial 00 44 followed by the number required without the initial '0'. The city for local calls codes are 954 and 955.

For Seville tourist information there is the Municipal Tourist Office at c/de Arjona (954 22 17 14); Regional Tourist Offices at Avenida de la Constitución (954 22 14 04) and at the Santa Justa railway station (954 53 76 26). Turismo Sevilla is at Plaza del Triunfo in the city centre (954 21 00 05).