Seville Bullfights and Feria

I never finished telling you all the wonderful, and sometimes bloody things we did in Seville. We'll get to the wonderful shortly, but let's start with the bloody. I don’t like to stay away from controversy and if a culture accepts extreme violence towards animals, in the name of sport, I'd be damned if I weren't to watch it. I'm referring to the bullfighting, La Corrida, which involves matadors, barbed sticks (banderillas) and the slaughter of several bulls during an evening.

I had so far managed to widely ignore what goes on inside these bullrings that look so beautiful from the outside, despite the prevalence of bullfights on TV. Who uses TV when there's Netflix and YouTube? I think part of me likes surprises and I knew I wanted my first time to be in the flesh. For example, going into the experience, I did not know whether the bull definitely dies in the ring… I left Seville's bullring knowing that they most certainly are killed (except in rare circumstances) and they are toyed with beforehand.

What is brutal by today's standards, probably was fairly pedestrian back in the pre-Roman times when the tradition started along the Mediterranean coast. It really has a rich history going back millennia and that makes it particularly difficult to stop. I'm not convinced it should be stopped. 

Katie (who didn't go to the fight) and I get into quite a rich conversation about it in our 360 experience, where we discuss the life of the bull compared to an average cow. You also get to experience the atmosphere inside a bullring, getting up close and personal with the grim climax, as the bullfight advances through the various tercios (stages). It's a more nuanced topic than I would have thought at first glance.

Right, that's enough violence for one post. Let's go back to Seville and the reason why these bullfights were happening in the first place. We visited during their biggest celebration of the year, their Feria de Abril (April Fair), and it was magical. Everyone dresses in their best attire - men in suits and women in the most extravagant flamenco-inspired dresses Euros can buy. They all head to a section of town that is taken over by casetas - private marquees belonging to different social clubs and organisations. Hundreds of clubs throw private parties in this festival area. It's an odd collection of marquees that are sectioned off from one another with doormen at every entrance, ensuring that no trespassers with 360 cameras can enter…

Inside the casetas, everyone is drinking Rebujito to stay hydrated. Rebujito is a dry white sherry called manzanilla that is mixed with Sprite. Delicious, refreshing and not too strong, which is good because you need to stay hydrated! A big part of the feria is the dancing, and people all over the place were spinning, clapping and twirling in a style called sevillana. It's not too dissimilar to flamenco (though there are a few differences) and it was really fun to watch. People in Seville learn this dance when they are kids and people of all ages were getting up and joining in the fun.

As well as dancing from place to place, people take a horse and carriage, which is very traditional and reminds me of an old school western. The issue with horses is the smell that comes with them. With a dusty floor and this distinct odour in the air, the Feria really is a Spanish cowboy festival!

It's a great festival to visit, and with clothing fashions changing and the grand entrance way into the festival site designed anew each year, I can see why people would flock to Seville year after year. The only downside for a tourist is that much of the festival is off-limits, as the casetas are nearly all private celebrations. There are a few public casetas but they don’t seem have the heart and atmosphere of the private ones. The sense we got was that tourists were welcome but not encouraged. And that's okay. This is a festival for Seville and an Andalusian holiday, and we still got pretty close to the authentic experience… Just like you can in the 360 experience!

And that about wraps up Seville. What a city! From the buildings, to the culture and the atmosphere, we were blown away. It's definitely one of our favourite cities in Spain and that's saying something because Spain is pretty damn awesome. Thanks for reading, enjoy the photos, and see you next time.

Seville Bullring - Home to a violent tradition

Beautiful...

And gruesome!

Welcome to Feria!

Full of horses...

Dancing...

Dresses...

Lights...

More horses...

Casetas...

and rebujito!

Churches and Parks in Seville

There's still so much to tell you about Seville! This time we're going to talk about some beautiful churches, the UNESCO World Heritage cathedral, an odd religious experience, and some stunning areas of greenery and open spaces!

We have two 360 videos for you this week, one about the religious buildings and another about the parks.

Let’s start at the UNESCO World Heritage cathedral in the centre of the city, which may well be the main tourist spot in Seville and something you simply can’t miss if you ever visit. This huge cathedral is the centrepiece of the city and is magnificent from every angle.

When they were planning the design, the city elders supposedly said, “Let us build a church so beautiful and so magnificent that those who see it finished will think we are mad.” I think they nailed it!

The cathedral took over a century to build, finishing in 1506. Imagine being involved in the construction at the beginning, knowing that you and your children were unlikely to see it finished. There’s something incredibly noble about these buildings that spanned the generations. I can’t even imagine working on one project for longer than a few months without changing to something new. The modern condition is almost the opposite of these generational construction projects.

Originally a mosque stood in the same spot, but it was knocked down to make room for the world’s third biggest cathedral (although some argue it is the biggest!!)

42 meters high and with over 80 chapels, this truly is a beast of a religious building and was so intricate and beautiful, it touched our hearts. We spent so much time walking around it, sitting by it to eat or drink, and just marvelling at its beauty. You can’t miss it when you’re in Seville, and why would you?!

Besides the cathedral, there are over 100 churches in Seville of all different styles and designs. Mudéjar architecture (a Moorish design) is lovely and there were many fine examples across the city. The main stand-out church for me was the Church of St Louis of France, a Jesuit church, which is no longer in use as a religious building. It’s run by the municipality and is free to enter on a Sunday afternoon. With an amazing facade and beautiful altars, it’s well worth the trip.

I mentioned at the beginning that we had an odd religious experience. This encounter involved buying biscuits from a nun. Although it doesn’t sound that strange, we did not actually see the nun, and had to place the order through a sort of lazy Susan, revolving door, type thing. It was very strange and interesting...The biscuits weren’t half bad either!

On the other side of that hatch is the nun with her biscuits! Very mysterious.

Now let's move on to the parks. Another absolute must in Seville is the stunning Plaza de España, built in 1928. This is a truly sublime area situated within the Maria Luisa park. The Plaza de España complex is a huge semi-circle with buildings running around the edge, accessible over the moat by bridges representing the four ancient kingdoms of Spain. In the centre is the Vicente Traver fountain. By the walls of the Plaza are many tiled alcoves, each representing a different province of Spain.

This is a shining example of why 360 is perfect for seeing a place virtually. The panorama was incredible to behold and this is one of the most breath-taking man-made places we've seen in Spain (and that's saying a lot!)

We'd also really recommend a visit to the world's largest wooden structure, called the Metropol Parasol. This structure is beautiful from street level, looking like giant mushrooms, which is why it's known locally as "Las Setas" (the mushrooms).

It's well worth paying a few euros to go to the top, as you get a magnificent view of the city and you can see the intricate design of the Metropol Parasol in all its wooden glory.

That’s about that for this weeks. We had such a good time in Seville and we’ll be back next week to talk about bullfighting!

Here are a few more photos, and don’t forget to watch the 360 experiences!

One of the many chapels in the cathedral

This is the church where the secret biscuit nuns live!

Alcázar of Seville

Today we're going to take a peek at a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Seville called the Alcázar. This beautiful palace and grounds were originally built in the 8th century, although most of the buildings there today are much newer than that. Don't forget that you can immerse yourself in the Alcázar in our 360 video series, designed for virtual reality users!

This is one of the key tourist sites to visit when in Seville (and is not free, by the way) so expect crowds during the busy summer months. I would also recommend taking a picnic into the Alcázar so you can have some food in the beautiful grounds that surround the palace - you'll probably be in there for a few hours so why not?

What makes the Alcázar so special is the architecture. It is one of, if not the finest example of Mudéjar architecture, which is a style created by the Moors (Muslims) that remained on the peninsula in the late medieval period, despite the Christian reconquest. It is so beautiful that the Christian rulers of Seville wanted this style in their palace, and hired Muslims to help them build the Alcázar. This combination is a fine example of how integrating cultures can have a sublime result both functionally and aesthetically.

The palace has many rooms that have history leaking from the walls but the main part I took away from it was the intricacy of the design. These long projects of construction and design that spanned generations show off the human ingenuity that is possible, even without the benefit of modern technology.

In the gardens there was all sorts of wildlife, including peacocks and a variety of fish. It was also the setting for the filming of Dorne in Game of Thrones, so it was cool getting a personal view of that.

All in all it was a lovely way to spend five-ish hours in Seville and well worth the entrance fee and time spent making the 360 immersive video of the site.

Next week we'll look at another UNESCO site in Seville and explore the plethora of churches and religious buildings that make up a large proportion of the beautiful buildings in the city. Until then.