Tag Archives: tourism

optical illusion

11 Saturday May 2019

Posted by in sevilla, tourism

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Last week when I was invited to the press conference at the Alcázar to announce this year’s Michelin Gala in Sevilla, I decided to spend a bit of time wandering around after the event finished. I mean, we were already inside! Thing is, although I have free entrance to this amazing place anytime, since I am a resident of Sevilla, it’s almost impossible to get in.

And so, I checked out a few of my favourite spots, including the peacefully beautiful baños de Doña Padilla. Of course what you can’t see in this photo is the bus-load of teenaged French students behind me, and various groups of other tourists, all clamouring for this very same “peaceful” shot. I beat them to it.

Poor Sevilla. I fear she is going to turn into Venice.

another landmark gone…

06 Wednesday Mar 2019

Posted by in sevilla

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So sad to see this. J.Cuevas Juguetería Técnica, a family business, has closed after 65 years. Manuel Cuevas Álvarez, grandson of the founder, cites a drop in sales due to the “avalanche” of tourists in the centre and the growth of e-commerce as the main reasons for the closure. I’m told that this landmark building will soon house a cocktail bar…

After the loss of Bazar Victoria (twice!) and Confituría Filella, this is yet another story of how tourism and greed are changing the face of Sevilla. Before long it will stop being the very thing that people are flocking here to see. Heartbreaking. Upon seeing my post of this on Instagram yesterday a friend quoted Wilde – “each man kills the thing he loves”. 😦

turísmo & gastronomía

13 Friday Jul 2018

Posted by in food & drink, gastronomy, restaurants, sevilla, sherry, tapas, tapas bars

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On Thursday (July 12) I was fortunate enough to be one of the invitees to the Hi Southern Tourism Meeting session on Tourism and Gastronomy (quite an honour, as I was, as far as I know, the only non-Spanish person present), a recognition of the growing importance of food tourism to both these sectors.

The venue was in what is now the Carriage Museum (since 1999), which was built during the 16-17th centuries as a Carmelite convent, and later served as the seat of the Spanish-Cuban Institute of History. Once a landmark, it was overshadowed by the apartment blocks of Los Remedios in the 1940s.

The event was hosted by local newspaper, the ABC, and introductions were made by editor Javier Rubio. The first presentation was given by Marcos Tarancón, of the Fundación Cruzcampo, showing their project to convert the old Cruzcampo factory in Nervión into a new tourist attraction for the city with cafés, restaurants and a large open garden space. The second was by Irene de Castro for Gonzalez Byass and the V Tio Pepe Festival, coming up in August at their bodega in Jerez.

This was followed by two round table discussions chaired by Isabel Aguilar of GURME.es, the first featuring local restauranteurs Juanlu Dorado (Cañabota), Juan Gómez (La Azotea), and Gonzalo Jurado (Tradevo) on the challenges of operating in a city with large numbers of tourists, and the second with Benjamin Lana of Madrid Fusión and Iñigo Iribarnegaray of San Sebastián Gastronómika, two cities that have become well known for food tourism.

Afterwards there was an opportunity to meet some of the participants, and other friends in the hospitality industry, over snacks and coffee.

Thanks as always to ABC Sevilla and sponsors of the event (CaixaBank, City Expert, CitySightseeing, Fundación Cruzcampo, MA Abogados) for a useful and interesting morning.

Also posted on Azahar Sevilla

greed

20 Wednesday Jun 2018

Posted by in andalucia, sevilla, spain

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Here you see the landmark Edificio La Adriática in Avenida de la Constitución, now reduced to housing cheap & cheesy souvenir shops. Below was once a traditional family-run shop in Calle Francos that is now a tacky “express market” catering to the tourists living in all the holiday apartments in the area. It’s bad enough that we’ve already lost Barrio Santa Cruz to this sort of crass tourist-focused commercialism, but now it’s spreading further afield. There is almost no more affordable decent housing in the Casco Antiguo. Likewise, independent shops have been closing in droves, only to be replaced with shit like this.

Yes, tourism is one of the most important industries in Sevilla. Heck, it is also (in part) how I make a living. But by destroying the centre of town like this, what will be left to attract people here? Before long what was once one of the most charming and beautiful cities in Spain will soon become a wasteland filled with tacky shops, awful bars and restaurants, and streets filled with huge tourist groups. Wait… soon become? It’s already happening. Shocking that the local government is just looking at the short term profits. You’d think the Spanish would have learned by now that if you over-fish an area then soon there is nothing left. I hope there is still time to turn this terrible greed-fueled trend around.