Category Archives: tourism

happy day!

20 Tuesday Jun 2023

Posted by in gastronomy, sevilla, tourism

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

,

academica (2)

Apparently June 20th is the happiest day of the year. Why? Who the fuck knows. But it turns out it has been a VERY HAPPY day for me as today it was confirmed that I am now officially a member of the Academía Sevillana de Gastronomía y Turismo. And I mean, wow. This has been a long time coming because they don’t let just anybody in and it has been a PROCESS (I think it only took three years??). I am also extra pleased because I am the first non-Spanish member, so to be recognised and accepted in this way means a lot to me. Let’s see what happens next!

when yer hot yer hot

19 Monday Jun 2023

Posted by in seasons, sevilla, tourism, weather

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

hot hot hot

It’s still a fairly mild 30º here today but by the weekend we will suddenly be up to 44º!!! For several days by the looks of it. Yep, here it comes. My lunchtime tapas tour on Saturday should be fun, and no doubt I will be asked – as I am almost always asked on my food tours – how I cope with THE HEAT here in summer. And I always answer that it’s the same as I how coped when it was -30º or -40º in Canada. I STAYED HOME. As much as possible anyhow.

It’s like people think we have some magic powers here that enable us to be out in extreme weather without feeling the effects. Uh… nope. We just do our best not to go out into it. And keep that AC going as much as possible. I still can’t believe that I spent my first 18 years here on the top floor of a building without a lift and WITHOUT HEATING OR AC. I mean okay, I was 30 years younger, and back then probably couldn’t have afforded to run the AC anyhow. But there is no way I could live with that heat now (heck I couldn’t even manage the stairs now!). Once it hits 29-30º inside my apartment that AC goes on, at least during peak times.

I just hope both my AC unit and the power grid hold up. With Sevilla being flooded by tourists who keep their hotel room AC blasting all day, shower like crazy and expect full swimming pools, I am not optimistic about getting through this blistering summer of intense drought without some kind of problem that will affect us residents who are, and who have always been, conscientious about saving water and not abusing our infrastructure.

Wish us luck! How are things going in your part of the world?

rick & me

09 Tuesday May 2023

Posted by in sevilla, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours, tourism, travel

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, ,

rick shawn

I had a very special guest on Monday evening… Rick Steves was in town and, as I’ve had the honour of being mentioned in two of his Spain travel guides the past few years (recommended by his local guide writer), it was high time we met up in person. Can I tell you? Rick is a lovely guy and a total force of nature. I had no idea what to expect, whether he wanted a tapas tour or just to talk about me and what I am doing and the Sevilla tapas scene, maybe get some recommendations on other places he could add to his guide… turned out that, yep, he wanted it all! And honestly, it was so much fun. Looking back, we stopped in at 16 (!!!) tapas bars and restaurants over five hours. Not eating at all of them obviously (we only did that at two stops) but checking out the places, ambiance, menus, etc. with Rick scribbling notes as we went. It was definitely a night of heavy researching.

Our first stop to actually stop at was Casa Morales. Reyes Morales was just coming back from walking her dog and said we had to come in and have a cold beer and a tapa. And well, who were we to argue with tapas bar royalty? At the last stop of the night, Salmedina, we also stopped in to eat. Rick had tried to get in the night of the Copa del Rey match and, well, no way. But luckily not only was there a table available for us, both owner/chefs were there (usually they trade off). Jaime and Pedro welcomed us and suggested we just try whatever they wanted us to try, thus a small but exquisite tasting menu ensued. My god. Every bite was heaven. And I even got to give Rick a little sherry education.

What can I say? It was a Tapeo Extremo to beat all others, all totally spontaneous and fun. Have already warned him that next time we’re going to Triana… and now that I know what he likes, well, it’s going to be epic.

Rick, thanks again for everything. Being in your guide has been amazing and I hope to continue being a trusted source for you and your travellers.

rick me (2)

stay classy sevilla

11 Tuesday Apr 2023

Posted by in sevilla, tourism

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

,

stay classy

Honest to fuck I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was just about tolerable when they put a big I HEART Sevilla sign at the top of the stairs below the Setas a couple of years ago but today I spotted this massive LED flashing billboard stuck up there and I dunno. It’s like every day we are losing a little bit more of our city. Apparently this sort of crass display of, well, crassness has become a bit of a global trend. I mean, you expect to see tacky flash like this in Vegas, Times Square, Tokyo etc but now it’s everywhere. Heck, massive billboards like this are now (dis)gracing the façades of churches, museums and other historic buildings across Europe and, frankly, it’s sickening. And disheartening. Because I almost wanted to hope that the promise of “sustainable tourism” would have at least been given a chance. Instead it looks like the worst is yet to come.

pan & circo

24 Friday Mar 2023

Posted by in sevilla, tourism, travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

pan circo

There was much media to-do about Sevilla being named European Capital of Smart Tourism 2023. Whatever that means. It’s right up there with Sustainable Tourism and Intelligent Tourism… nice sounding catch phrases to make the public feel like something is being done about the blight of global mass tourism. I wasn’t able to attend today’s big media campaign presentation (Morcilla needed me) but my friend and intrepid journalist Fiona Flores Watson was there to see what sort of plans were afoot to actually address the very real problem of tourism over saturation in the city. Turns out… nothing. Instead there was a lot of talk about the “data/tech will solve everything” nonsense they’ve been wasting time and money on. Here’s an article about one such plan, that isn’t actually a plan, and will never be implemented in any practical or meaningful way..

Seville introduces tourist rationing to limit vast holiday crowds in city centre

Right off the bat the headline is misleading. No rationing has been introduced, nothing is being limited, no meaningful action is being taken. It’s still a total free for all here with Sevilla still for sale to the highest bidder. As usual Biz & Govt want to have their cake and eat it while offering us bread and circuses. Because what this city really needs, frankly what the world needs, is for people to stop being so selfish, short sighted and greedy, and we’ve already seen how well that’s been going with things like world hunger, the pandemic (still not over!), climate change, housing, equality, etc etc etc.

The Sevilla tourism overload problem is not insurmountable, but it would require that (gasp!) the people in charge who are whoring our beautiful city to rest of the globe for easy profit would, well, have to stop doing that. Here are a couple of ideas that would actually make a difference…

  1. Limit the number of tour groups allowed into the city centre, also group sizes. Say, no more than ten people per group, and guides would have to book their times in advance to avoid peak hour congestion. They are already doing this with traffic, why not with people?

  2. ALL tourist apartments would have to reapply for their permits based on much stricter codes and with a much smaller number allowed per street.

  3. Limiting the number of retail shops that are purely tourist focused. I mean, how many flamenco aprons does anyone actually need? We want our corner stores back, our independent neighbourhood shops that got forced out by ruthless landlords. You know, the ones that actually made Sevilla… Sevilla.

These are just some ideas off the top of my head. I’m quite sure that experienced people working in the sector could come up with many many more and much better ones. But they won’t. Because even my suggestions would require them to make less easy money. Instead they say they are doing blah blah and hey look Sevilla is now the Capital of Smart Tourism! It’s so fucking insulting.

I’ve lived here now for almost 30 years. Sevilla is my home. I love it with all my heart. And I am truly heartbroken to see what is being done to beautiful Sevilla. People coming here now are seeing a much less charming version of the Sevilla  I first got to know in 1993  – and even then friends were saying to me that Santa Cruz had become so touristy, that I was living in Guirilandia. Well now it’s totally Disneylandia. Barrio Santa Cruz is (very sadly) now a theme park for tourists. I was forced out after 18 years because my landlord wanted to take advantage of the situation, told me they needed my apartment for his family (lies, lies) and  I was gone. Actually much happier now, but even in my barrio the insidious creeping of uncontrolled tourism is changing my street.

I do realise there are no easy solutions. But that’s kind of my point. They aren’t easy and why should they be? After letting mass tourism run rampant for the past twenty years or more there needs to be a reckoning. And some people will need to take a loss at some point (which of course will never happen) in order to get out of this mess, or at least to move forward a bit. The people who will end up taking a loss? You and me. I mean, I really hope I’m proved wrong about this. Time will tell.