Plaza de Espana. Well in Spanish it is spelled Plaza de España but we will just keep it simple. We were here during our last trip to Sevilla and now we went back for more. There is a good reason that this place is ranked the number one attraction in Sevilla according to TripAdvisor. And what might be best of all is that it is free to visit.
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Plaza de Espana in Sevilla – not to be missed
You know those places that are super touristy? Well, this is one of those places and boy is it wonderful! This is the place to be, whether you are a tourist or one of the locals. I will not get into details of when it was built and all of that and to be honest with you I had trouble finding any interesting information. All the web sights have the exact same info…
- That it was built in 1928 for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 – whatever that means.
- That it is a landmark and an example of the Regionalism Architecture, mixing elements of the Renaissance Revival and Moorish Revival styles of Spanish architecture.
But I would like to say that visiting this place has nothing to do whether you have an interest in architecture or not. This is so much more than that and we are sure that you will like this place – touristy as it is!
Walk around at Plaza de Espana
Even if there are several different things to do during your visit at Plaza de Espana, walking around is by far the best! There are a lot of built-in benches with amazing works of art on the walls. Each region has their own pieces of tiles that are formed into these incredible pictures. I first set my goal of taking a picture of each and every one of them. It didn’t take me long until I realized that it might be more or less impossible… there are a lot of people enjoying the benches!
On one bench, there is a man sitting with three bikes. He is probably waiting for someone. Another bench is occupied by a group of people that are listening to music and talking. At yet another bench there is a couple lying down. And then there are the two girls that are taking selfies. You get the picture – a lot of the benches are occupied by tourists and locals.
Get busy at Plaza de Espana
Yes, this is a super touristy place. I don’t think that you can find anything more touristy in Sevilla even if you tried. To make the most out of the tourists – the locals have several different things that you can do while here. You can take a boat ride on the small lake, take a horse-drawn carriage around the Plaza de Espana or see some of the different performances that are offered.
The performers will dance and sing and use castanets. If you want you can also buy castanets or a handheld fan that is traditional for Spain. They perform for tips and you give them whatever you feel fitting. For 6 euros you can rent a boat and take a romantic paddling around the plaza. And there are horse-drawn carriages all around Sevilla that will take you for a ride at or to Plaza de Espana. If you don’t want to go far, you can deal with them about taking you just around the Plaza. However, we feel that the best way to see the Plaza is on foot and at a slow pace!
Plaza de Espana as filming location
One of my first thought when coming here was “this would be an awesome set for movies”. And after doing some quick research it turns out that some moviemakers had the same thing in mind. There are several movie scenes that are filmed here! It is actually so popular that it has become a Treasure of European Film Culture. Here are some of the famous movies that were shot here:
- Lawrence of Arabia in 1962.
- The wind and the lion in 1975.
- Star Wars episode II: Attack of the Clones in 2002.
- Kingdom of Heaven in 2005.
- Knight and Day in 2010.
- The Dictator in 2012.
According to the City of Seville, from January to June 2017, there were 89 films, videos and photo- productions in town. That ended up being a direct investment amounting to 10.44 million euro. But keep in mind that it is for all of Seville and not only The Plaza de Espana.
And while on the subject – did you know that Game of Thrones was filmed in the Alcazar in Seville, now how cool is that?!
Our visit to Plaza de Espana
We have been to this magical place twice so far. The second time around, we were here during community day (Pokemon Go nerds will totally get this). We spent three hours just walking in circles, catching Pokemons and enjoying the nice surroundings. And one thing that was funny was that the majority of the visitors were catching Pokemons too!
After the event, we stayed for a couple of hours more and by the end of the day, we had spent almost an entire day here. If you really want to enjoy this place then make sure that you are not in a hurry. Take your time – sit down and enjoy life at Plaza de Espana. This place is really magical.
Information about Plaza de Espana
Address: Avenida de Isabel la Catolica, 41004 Sevilla, Spain.
Entrance fee: None unless you want to take a boat ride.
Opening hours: All day every day. You always have access to Plaza de Espana.
Great photos of this beautiful place.
Detta ställe gillar jag verkligen! Och fantastiskt vackra foton!!! (Jag måste skaffa större skärm så jag ser hela bilderna på en gång tror jag, på min lilla dator måste jag liksom skrolla upp och ner ;)) Hoppas allt är bra med er!!!?
Fina bilder och bra berättat. Önskar en skön fortsättning på er resa!