Seville: a winter sun paradise for food and art lovers

Nativity scene in the style of Seville

Last year I chose to holiday in Seville for the Christmas season for the wrong reasons. I had never particularly wanted to go to Seville, and my Mum with whom I was travelling did not request it. I thought that it was a good city to stay in for day trips in and around Andalusia, and had the cities of Córdoba and Granada at the top of my “to see” list. Yet poor holiday planning – which included a flight out of the UK from Gatwick Airport on Boxing when little to no public transport ran – made it insensible to go to Granada: our self-catering apartment was not near the train station, Granada was 4 hours away by train, and a visit to the Alhambra was near impossible in holiday seasons without waiting in the queue well before opening time.

There is, they say, a silver lining in every cloud. I fell in love with Seville so deeply that even Córdoba, to which a journey was manageable, was forgotten. It reminded me of the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong in Christmastime, when everyone stayed out late in the streets eating, shopping, and partying. By comparison, in the colder climes of northern Europe – which includes the UK where I live and Tallinn where I holidayed over the Christmas season in 2017 – Christmas didn’t feel like the Christmas of my childhood. Last year I had journeyed to Tallinn in the hope of a white Christmas. Yet it snowed before and after I arrived, but only very lightly while I was there. Otherwise it was mostly grey and cold. By contrast, Seville was sunny every day.

Where I visited

Convento de San Leandro to buy a box of yemas, which are traditional conical Spanish sweets made of egg yolk and sugar, with other flavours added like lemon or orange juice. You cannot enter the convent building; rather you stand in the courtyard and buy the sweets from a gap in the wall of the convent building. First ring the bell to notify the nuns that you would like to make a purchase; then tell the nun what you want to buy; then place your money into the revolving drum that fits in the gap in the wall and connects the inside of the building with the outside; then the nun turns the drum, collects the money and gives you change and the item you ordered, and turns it again; and your collect your change and purchase.

Iglesia San Salvador, the largest church in Seville, which is home to several of the many Virgins of Seville – that is to say paintings and replicas of the 13th century figures of the Virgin Mary brought by Castilian conquerors. Here lives the Virgen de las Aguas, who is depicted holding the baby Jesus in his Christening robes at baptism, and the Virgen de la Antigua, who is depicted holding the baby Jesus with her left arm and a white flower in her right hand, a representation that became important in the Americas due to Christopher Columbus’ devotion to it – the first Spanish village in the New World was named after this Virgin. Here lives also the Virgen del Rocío, who is depicted as the Book of Revelation describes her: “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.”

Catedral, the largest cathedral in the world – St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican is not a cathedral as it is not the seat of a bishop. This is the final resting place of Christopher Columbus – after his remains were moved around the world on multiple occasions – and his son Fernando. Other highlights are the sacristry which exhibits a monstrance that contains one of the thorns in the crown of thorns Jesus wore, the chapter house which was modeled on the Pantheon in Rome, the treasury which exhibits a crown that has the second largest pearl in the world, and the Giralda which you can ascend easily on sloped flooring rather than steps and get a panoramic view of Seville.

Iglesia San Pedro, where the painter Diego Velázquez was baptised. It has a dark wood timbered ceiling and beautiful tiles.

Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza, or the Bullring, which is the finest bullring in Spain. The guided tour takes you through exhibits of prints and paintings depicting bullfighting, bulls, and fighters; costumes and mounted heads of bulls; the yard and chapel where the bullfighters waited and prayed before entering the arena; and the arena.

Hopsital de la Caridad, a hopsital for the elderly and infirm. It has a spectacular chapel with an altarpiece by Pedro Roldán, Seville’s most famous sculptor, and paintings by Juan de Valdés Leal, Seville’s second most important painter after Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. I found the Hospital to be the best place to appreciate art in tranquility, as many of the Catedral’s chapels are locked behind iron gates, and the Iglesia San Salvador, though less popular than the Catedral, still has a lot of visitors.

Plaza de España, a semicircular monument that was built for the 1929 Ibero-American Expo. You can go boating in the pool or climb the towers to access the upper level for a better view of the Parque de María Luisa. We spent a lot of time looking at each of the tiled maps of each region of Spain. Tiles have many purposes in Seville: they are used for decoration, signage, information plaques, maps, menus, adverts, and prayers.

Alcázar, the royal palace complex started by King Pedro of Castile and Léon on the site of a Muslim fortress. Here you can see many different architectural styles, the result of centuries of building, renovation and extension, with both Christian and Moorish influences. You can see the gardens and rooms in which Carlos V – later Holy Roman Emperor – walked, feasted, and spent his first night as the husband of Isabella of Portugal. The highlights for me were: seeing the Retablo Virgen de los Navigentes, the first European painting to depict America, in the Sala de las Audiencias; the glittering Salón de los Embajadores with its band of portraits of the kings that ruled Seville from the Visigoths onwards and which recalls the palaces of the Caliphate; and the Galería de Grutesco, a long gallery that stretched the length of the formal gardens from the end of which you could look back on and admire the palace. These gardens become the Water Gardens of Dorne in HBO’s Game of Thrones.

Mercado de Triana, the covered market of Triana, the quarter across the Guadalquivir river possibly named after the Roman Emperor Trajan who was born just outside Seville and where the gypsies and bullfighters with whom Seville is most associated lived. We gawped at the attractive stalls and observed a cooking class at the Cookery School.

Casa-Palacio de las Dueñas, the residence of the Duke of Alba that was opened to the public in 2016. If you were disappointed with the lack of furnishings in the Alcázar and, like us, were not lucky enough to get a ticket to the Cuatro Alto (Royal Apartments) – they had already sold out online when I checked the website – you can compensate for that by visiting the Casa-Palacio de las Dueñas, where there are lavish interiors characteristic of Andalusia, with a room dedicated to bullfighting and the Fería and another room, that of the former Duchess, containing a flamenco stage on which the Duchess used to practise. Among its treasures are: a saddle used by Eugenia de Montijo, consort of Napoleon III, sculptures by Canova, archaeological finds, a page from the visitor book with a doodle by Salvador Dalí, and a photograph of another famous guest who stayed here, Jackie Kennedy.

Basilica de la Macarena, which houses the Virgen de la Esperanza de Macarena, the most beloved of the Virgins in Seville and the most venerated during the Semana Santa (Holy Week). The virgin is lavishly dressed and has glass teardrops running down her cheeks, which you can see in a mirrored reflection up close if you go up the steps behind the altar. Outside the Basilica you can see the Arab city walls.

Where I ate and drank

Mateos, on Calle Mateos Gago. We ordered from the section of the menu that had 3 price bands, the smallest of which was tapas size. We shared a croquetas boletus (mushroom croquette), croquetas jamón (ham croquette), and a croquetas espinacas (spinach croquette), adobo sevillano (fried marinated dogfish – adobo is a marinade) that came in a small deep fryer, and a large glass of sangría. The interior is modern, with a green foliage-covered wall on one side and an almost floor to ceiling shelving on the other for wines and cans of tomato sauce and oil.

Bolas, a heladeria (ice cream parlour) with blue-and-white tiled walls and ice cream counter. We ordered a scoop of turrón (nougat) and a scoop of sevilla mora (Moorish-style with orange bits) ice cream.

Bar El Comercio, on Calle Lineros. Founded in 1904 by the Rivera family, it serves churros con chocolate that are long, fat, crisp-and-soft like Yorkshire puddings, and without ridges, and are deep fried in a spiral shape before being cut. Served with melted dark chocolate, they taste incredible and are basically the sweet and Spanish version of the you zha gui (deep fried dough sticks, lit. oil fried devils) that Hong Kongers eat with congee (rice porridge) for breakfast. A very different and more pleasant experience than eating the thin, crunchy, ridged and sugar-coated churros served from stalls and vans in the UK that are served with thin hot chocolate. If you buy churros to takeaway, they come in a neat container just for churros, with separate compartments for the cup of chocolate and a napkin.

Confiteria la Campana, a patisserie and confectioner’s on Calle Sierpes, founded in 1885. We ordered a tocino de cielo (custard with caramel top, lit. heavenly lard) to take away.

100 Montaditos,  on Calle San Fernando and a recommendation of my friend Francesca. One of the nationwide branches of grilled sandwiches. We ordered from the €1 menu of mini subs: one with calamares en su tinta y mayonesa (squid in ink and mayonnaise) and an albóndigas (meatballs). They were delicious and came with salted crisps on the side – paper cones of crisps are popular in Seville, just as paper cones of fries are popular in Bruges.

The self-service café in the gardens of the Alcázar, where we ordered a tortilla (potato cake) each, a café con leche (coffee with milk), and a slice of chocolate torta (cake). Peacocks are on the prowl for crumbs and you can see parakeets flying overhead. Unlike at British attractions the food is inexpensive, probably because they make most of their money not through refreshments but through the hefty entrance fee.

Lucas’ City, on Calle Francos. A hip eating place tucked away in a little square off Calle Francos, with an alfresco feel and a Coca-Cola font logo. While this may not seem traditional the food was beautifully presented and delicious. We ordered a Cruzcampo Gran Reserva draught beer from Spain’s biggest brewery that also hails from Seville, a vino de naranja (orange wine), pastel de berenjena (scorpionfish paté), tortillas de camarones (shrimp fritters), boquerones en adobo (fried marinated whitebait), and salmorejo Cordobés (thick tomato soup thickened with breadcrumbs and topped with ham and egg, a speciality from Cordoba).

Where I stayed

I booked a self-catering apartment with Green Apartments that was situated just off the Cathedral square. It had modern furnishings with old and new appliances – the old appliances are what you expect of Continental Europe I guess, and included a small fridge that was kept cool not by electricty but with a huge block of ice – and a balcony overlooking part of the Catedral. I was proud to have discovered and booked the apartment, and everyone I encountered either by phone or by email or in person in the booking process and checking-in process were friendly, polite, and helpful.

Tips

How to skip the queue at the Catedral: Buy a ticket for the Catedral and Iglesia de San Salvador combined – this is the ticket you have to buy if you want to enter the Catedral – at the Iglesia rather than the Catedral. The queue at the Iglesia will be shorter in comparison to the queue at the Catedral. Once you have the ticket, you will be able to go straight into the Catedral without lining up to buy a ticket. Francesca also said that you can enter for free on Sundays in between services.

Where to enter the Catedral: unless you have a group ticket, your entrance will be on the side facing the Plaza del Triunfo. The entrance for groups is on the side facing the Plaza de la Virgen de los Reyes, and the entrance on the Avenida de la Constitución is for the parish church that joins onto the Catedral but is not accessible for tourists from within the Catedral.

Where to watch flamenco: you can watch flamenco for free or a small gratuity near the Puerta de Jerez and the Plaza de España, performed by street performers. The latter was recommended to me by Francesca. For a more intimate and sophisticated experience buy a ticket to a performance in one of the many tablaos (“flamenco stages”) in the city centre that feature professional dancers, musicians and singers – we saw a performance at the Casa del Flamenco in the Santa Cruz quarter. For a sense of how flamenco originated head over to Triana from midnight for a drink in one the many bars and see how the locals dance.

Where to buy fresh food for self-catering: if, like us, you stay in the city centre by the Catedral, the best place to buy fresh food from a fish, meat, or deli counter is at Más or Mercado Triana – other supermarkets in the area only have packaged equivalents.

Where not to eat: on Sunday or holidays don’t eat at Bodega Góngora on Calle Albareda. Don’t be fooled by the long menu that ticks off most food you may have on your checklist. Not only do they not serve dishes in tapas sizes on Sundays and holidays but when we ate there, not everything on the menu was available. It is so busy that staff tend to forget your orders – for our order we pointed to a seafood platter on the table next to us but received a platter that had less shellfish that it should have, and we also received a bottle of mineral water that we did not order – and even forget to charge you for some things – we got a glass of vino de naranja that was either free or was compensation for the mix-up with our main and unasked for bottle of water.

Also avoid La Paella Sevilla on Calle Albuera, not least because paella is native to Valencia, not Seville. My Mum wanted to eat paella, and I found a popular and well-reviewed paella place. However, it seemed to me to be trendy only to the social media generation, with the paella being served in small Instagrammable paella dishes that in reality were microwaveable. Yes, the food is microwaved before serving, instead of piping hot from the stove. On the up side, the food is inexpensive and filling, you can try authentic dishes from Valencia such as fideuà (which is like paella but made with pasta) as the family that runs the restaurant hails from the land of paella, and you can see locals coming in to pick up their supersize takeaway orders that can contain the entire paella pan.

When to go to the toilet upon landing at the airport: don’t wait in the queue for the four toilet cubicles in the ladies’ room in the baggage claim area. Go through customs and out of the baggage claim area, and you’ll find yourself in the main airport departures and arrivals space where there are multiple ladies’ rooms. To the newly landed, Seville airport looks like a relic of the 1950s and seemed to be dirty and out-of-date. To someone departing from Seville airport, it is spacious and clean with some of the best eating options I’ve experienced in a European airport.

When to visit the Alcázar: don’t think that you can buy your ticket online and skip the queue unless you have a ticket that includes a timed visit to the Cuarto Real Alto. There is a queue for people to buy tickets and a separate queue for people who already have tickets and both queues move at a similar pace. Just get there one hour before opening time with a hot drink/thermos.

The Christmas spirit between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day

Christmas decorations in homes in the centre from the Catedral to Las Setas mainly feature a red cloth depicting a picture of the baby Jesus and the words Dies Ha Nacido, while Christmas decorations in homes and public squares of the more residential quarter of the Macarena and Alameda feature the more commercial and pagan Santa Claus, fairy lights, tinsel, and Christmas trees. In restaurants and tourist sites mainly feature poinsettia. In churches, sweet shops, pharmacies, and the airport, we saw nativity scenes big and small and sometimes edible, and in the Plaza de San Francisco three giant crowns of the Los Reyes Magos (Three Wise Kings).

It’s not uncommon to hear Christmas carols while exploring in the city centre. We heard familiar carols sung in Spanish from a CD player in the Iglesia San Pedro Apóstol, a group of singers outside the Iglesia de San Salvador one night singing Feliz Navidad, and modern Christmas songs in Spanish in the Ale-Hop store on the Paseo de Cristóbal Colón.

We saw the most elaborate nativity scenes ever in Seville, which is saying a lot as we’d previously visited Malta in early December, a country known for the praesepio (nativity scene). Awestruck at the colossal model in the Hopsital de la Caridad, we did not think anything could beat that until we followed the sound of booming music from the Iglesia San Marcos and sat through 3 animated and narrated nativity shows (on repeat).

Seville may not have the popular “German Christmas markets” but it has Christmas markets aplenty. We saw children have fun on bicycle-powered fairground rides at the Christmas market at Las Setas, wondered why stalls needed to have a water sprinkler over their selection of nuts (to keep the flies at bay?) at the Mercados Navideño Sevilla Centro in the Alameda de Hércules, and chatted to an artist who specialised in miniature Persian painting at the Feria de Artesanía Creativa in the Plaza Nueva, who made his own paintbrushes using his pet cats’ hairs.

Roasted chestnuts are sold from carts with white chimneys that can be found everywhere in the city centre: the ones from the cart at the end of Calle San Fernando that is furthest away from the Puerta de Jerez roasts chestnuts that are very easy to peel, and sells them at the same price (€3) as the cart on Calle Imagen outside the Iglesia San Pedro Apóstol, which sells chestnuts that are difficult to peel.

At this time of year there are queues or crowds of parents with their children, and not just for fairground rides and shops. On our first night in Seville we joined a crowd that was waiting to watch the Arktika parade feature giant bicycle-powered polar bears to raise awareness for the impact of people on the environment, and on subsequent days each time we walked through the Plaza de San Francisco we had to navigate our way around the round-the-block queue for an interactive Christmas-themed exhibition. Children are often dressed in smart, stylish and classic clothes, and I wonder if the Spanish have the same tradition as the Chinese of buying new clothes for the New Year.