Wonders of Seville: Plaza de España and Parque de María Luisa

The wonderful city of Seville has a lot to offer: amazing food, great people, fantastic weather, gorgeous monuments and incredible history.

I have already talked about one of the city’s symbols, the Alcázar, and now I will walk you through the other main sight of Seville – or at least one of the most famous ones – the Plaza de España and the nearby amazing park, the Parque de María Luisa.

Plaza de España

Located a bit further away from the centre, inside the María Luisa park, the Plaza de España was built for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. Now, it is an incredible example of architecture mixing a lot of different styles, including the Mudéjar style that you can see at the Alcázar.

After the Exposition, the plaza de España stayed where it was, and it quickly became one of the city’s most famous landmarks. And you can understand why.

You step into this huge plaza, with on one side the María Luisa park, and on the other side this very long, semi-circular wall with an archway on top of it. In between there is a small artificial canal, crossed by colourful bridges and, in the middle a big fountain.

First of all, it is so big that the crowd sort of disappears. You can see tourists gathering under the arches where street dancers dance the flamenco, to enjoy the show or just to get some shade.

However, the first thing you notice when you arrive is the stunning architecture. The circular shape of the building and all the bridges that are meant to represent the ancient kingdoms of Spain somehow give you a sort of “Venice” vibe. Each of them has amazing details and is adorned with colourful tiles.

Talking about tiles, there are many small alcoves on the wall surrounding the plaza that represent the provinces of Spain. They are all different and consist of a main picture, with a bench and, underneath, their location in Spain. They are a perfect place to just sit for a while but also to take nice and colourful pictures!

Parque de María Luisa

After a visit of the Plaza de España, a stroll around the María Luisa park is almost mandatory, not only to escape from the heat that usually characterises Europe’s hottest city, but also to admire the stunning nature.

Apparently, the park serves as a botanical garden, and when you walk around it, it does not come as a surprise. You can see a huge variety of typical Mediterranean plants like palm trees, orange trees or other exotic plants. There are also many species of birds, and especially doves.

What I liked the most where the small touches that reminded you of the fact that this is not completely “natural”: nicely decorated fountains, archways, colourful benches, ponds, pavilions, etc. This might not be to everyone’s taste, but I thought that it blended in perfectly with the surroundings.

This is also at the María Luisa park that I had one of the strongest Dornish vibes, for all of you who watch Game of Thrones. Maybe it was the ponds, or the peaceful, sunny and relaxed atmosphere, or the nature – I don’t know, but it felt somewhat magical and out-of-this-world!

Finally, it is also a very peaceful place where you can easily get lost and forget about the many tourists that you usually encounter in the centre.

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I hope that in this somewhat short post I managed to give you an idea of how wonderful these two places are. They are one of the reasons why I truly think I could live in Seville, and contribute to the city’s atmosphere, a deeply Mediterranean culture with an extremely rich history.

Have you ever been to Seville? What did you think of these landmarks?