So this is happening. And I’m furious about it. Yet another move to make Sevilla more “tourist friendly” at the expense of its residents. The plan is to pedestrianise a main downtown strip that runs from the Plaza del Duque to The Setas (aka Metropol Parasol). No doubt the idea is to install more hotels, chain bars and restaurants and have their terraza tables spilling out into the street. BUT… this also means  5 major bus routes that now finish in Plaza del Duque are going to be rerouted to “turn around” either in the Alameda or in Plaza Ponce de León.

On the maps (above) Plaza del Duque is the white square on the left. From there you can see how far reaching these two bus routes are – the 27 and 32. They go WAY OUT THERE to the suburbs and those buses are always packed, every day, all day long. The 32 also connects the centre to the FUCKING TRAIN STATION. What are they thinking? Oh wait, tourists can take taxis.

For this rant I am gong to focus on the two routes being shifted to Plaza Ponce de León because those are the ones I use the most (but in spirit I am with the 13 & 14 heading north). And when I say they are packed all day a large number of the people on these buses are elderly, mobility challenged, etc… people coming into the centre to shop, have lunch, enjoy a day in town, you know, BE in their city. Not to mention workers coming in to the various shops, restaurants, hotels, etc. who have to be here.

Now if you look at the map below it maybe doesn’t seem like a big deal, moving the “turn around” point from the square on the left (Plaza del Duque) to the arrow on the right (Plaza Ponce de León). But that is in fact at least a fifteen minute walk. For a young fit healthy person, maybe it’s 11 or 12. For me right now with knee issues it would be half an hour. So right now I am identifying with and really feeling what this would mean for all the elderly people that I always see on this bus. For them it could mean that they would no longer be able to access the centre OF THEIR OWN CITY. In order to give more access to tourists.

A couple of years ago a similar thing happened with three main bus routes from the centre to Triana, and this has resulted in many people no longer being able to get into the centre of their own city. Why? Because a five star hotel was installed in the Plaza de Magdalena and it has been turned into their playground, no more nasty buses turning around in the square… now the buses stop further down towards the river, again too far for people with mobility issues to manage. We are losing our city and our culture day by day. Soon all that will be left are gormless tourists walking around thinking they are having an AUTHENTIC EXPERIENCE because they are staying in our homes, going to our bars (where locals no longer go) and basically just enjoying the architecture. People just don’t get it… if there are no neighbours then it’s not a neighbourhood.