Plaza de España
No visit to Sevilla is complete without visiting the Plaza de España. Built in 1929 inside Maria Louisa Park for the Ibero-American Expo of 1929, it combines classic baroque, Moorish, and Renaissance revival architectural styles to showcase the various regions of Spain and promote unity with many of Spain’s former colonies. During our visit, we couldn’t resist a stop to this charming semi-circular plaza. Here’s why!
All About Plaza de España
Plaza de España means Spain Plaza in English. Each alcove (shown below) is tiled with motifs representative of each of the 48 regions. There’s also a small tiled map showing where each place in Spain is located, and the motifs show what’s popular or unique about each region and its history. Additionally, there are small benches and other features in each alcove. It’s a popular spot for Spaniards to visit and take a selfie with their home region, but tourists can do the same for each spot they’ve visited!
Additionally, this half-mile park and garden has beautiful landscaping and an impressive collection of tiled lamp posts, bridges, walkways, canals, and fountains. If you love Spanish tiles or are looking for a great photo backdrop, this is the spot for you!
Similar to the World Fairs, the Ibero-American Expo of 1929 utilized this newly built space to showcase Spain’s architectural, artistic, and technical expertise. The purpose was to unify and mollify former Spanish colonies.
Now, it’s a very popular tourist destination with many lovely spots to stroll and explore. Inside, the buildings are civic offices, mostly inaccessible to the public. Compared to the rest of Sevilla, this plaza is very new.
When to Visit the Plaza de España
Beautiful any time of year, I recommend visiting around sunrise. This allows visitors to explore as the sun crawls across the incredible historic tiles, and the crowds are much smaller. We arrived around 10 am local time, and it was already pretty busy. Then, when we passed by again around 3 pm, it was unbelievably crowded.
What to Do at Plaza de España
We spent maybe 60 minutes here admiring everything and walking around. I also stopped to take a lot of photos of the gorgeous tiles, blooming flowers, and incredible architecture.
There’s a small boat rental place for anyone who wants to row around the canal. That became increasingly popular as the day wore on, too. For less than €10, visitors can row down the 515-foot-long canal and enjoy the buildings and bridges from an unusual angle.
Nearby is the Royal Alfonso XIII 5-star hotel. We stopped here on our way to Royal Alcázar, or Alcázar of Seville, an incredible historic royal palace and Islamic-style garden. Fans of Game of Thrones will recognize Real Alcázar of Seville as the filming location for many of the Dornish scenes. Speaking of filming locations, Star Wars Episode II’s Naboo scenes were filmed at the Plaza de España!
Our entire visit was filled with extraordinary places, meals, and more. I can’t wait to share our full itinerary with you soon!
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