Seville Travel Guide

Sevilla is Andalucía’s largest, most self-assured, and most sophisticated city—the hometown of the passionate Carmen and the lusty Don Juan. Style matters here. Almost every Sevillana owns at least one flamenco dress to wear during the city’s famous April fería—or to a friend or family member’s wedding. It may also be the most ornately decorated city in Spain. No country does baroque like the Spanish, and no city does Spanish baroque like Sevilla, where the style represents the hybrid offspring of Moorish decoration and the Catholic insistence on turning every abstract curlicue of Islam into a Christian angel’s wing.

Sevilla has been Andalucía’s center of power and influence since Fernando III of Castilla tossed out the Almohad rulers in 1248. But Fernando wisely left Barrio Santa Cruz intact, and the tangled ancient streets of the Judería still make the medieval era palpable.

As the first major city in Andalucía to return to Castilian rule, Sevilla also has a strongly Christian character, with churches and former convents at almost every turn. Its Holy Week (Semana Santa) processions—when huge effigies of Christ and the Virgin Mary are paraded through the streets, led by penitents in pointed hoods—are the most passionate in Spain.

If you choose lodging near the cathedral, the bells may jar you awake. Locals who grew up nearby claim they never notice the sound, and it’s true that most visitors become accustomed to them quickly. During Semana Santa and feria, hotels double or even triple their rates, with increases often announced at the last minute. If you’re going to be in Sevilla at these times, arrive with an ironclad reservation and an agreed price before checking in.

The North African influence on Sevilla cuisine is obvious in the honey-sweetened pastries and the abundant dates, almonds, saffron, and lemons. Gazpacho was made here with almonds and garlic long before tomatoes arrived from the New World, and breads are still baked in ancient ovens.