Sevilla

My very first impression of Sevilla was absolute confusion over the address of the train station: Avenida de Kansas City.

And as you exit the train station, there's a statue of a Sioux scout.

I'm afraid there isn't a terribly interesting explanation here. They've been sister cities since the 1960's. There's also a replica of Sevilla's La Giralda in a shopping center in Kansas City, which is possibly stranger, as La Giralda was originally the bell tower for the Muslim call to prayer from the Great Mosque in al-Andalus. I'm sure Missouri residents love that.

I'm finding myself much more drawn to the history of al-Andalus than "Spain" at the moment. The tours and museums here all talk about Spain as though it were an existing nation temporarily inconvenienced by the 700-year illegitimate occupation of Muslims until the territory was reconquered, but that idea seems to be driven solely by nationalism. The notion of "Spain" in the 15th century is as tenuous as "Germany" or "Italy" in the 18th century—it was many separate kingdoms. In the early 12th century, a small group of Spanish-speaking Christian kingdoms emboldened by the Crusades imagined that al-Andalus, which spanned the vast majority of the Iberian Peninsula, was rightfully theirs and should be reconquered. Reconquista feels very similar to Manifest Destiny in the USA.

For context, the Iberian Peninsula was ruled by the Roman Empire until the early 6th century, the Visigoths until the early 8th century, and the Umayyad Caliphate (as the province of al-Andalus) until Christian kingdoms to the north challenged that rule in the early 12th century, claiming that their Visigothic ancestors were the rightful owners of the land. For the next few centuries, these Spanish kingdoms would proceed to conquer and displace the people who built all of the marvelous structures and beautiful cities I've been touring. There's also a complicated history of the way they absorbed the Basque kingdoms and Catalonia, who to this day do not consider themselves Spanish and occasionally make rumblings about independence.

Luckily Sevilla has a more recent history of impressive structures built from the colonial era up through the 1929 Exposición Iberoamericana—a sort of world fair for former colonies. Rather than just Spain-washing beautiful mosques and neighborhoods built by a displaced prior culture, there are actual Spanish contributions to the beauty of Sevilla.

Everything feels quite a bit newer than Córdoba or Granada. There are more broad promenades in the style of Barcelona or Málaga.

I don't think I photographed it very well, but the somewhat recently built (1929) Plaza de España was beautiful and worth seeing.

And then there's Sevilla's answer to the Flat Iron Building:

Sevilla was a big deal during the colonial era. It sits on the Rio Guadalquivir (like Córdoba), and the river is wide enough here for enormous sea-faring ships to enter. It was the commercial hub for imports from the New World. The opera Carmen is based on the royal cigarette factory here. (And if you think it's weird that there's such a thing as a royal cigarette factory in Spain and an opera based on it, you'll be further weirded out to know that the opera is in French.)

Favorite foods

I gave paella another shot, this time from a street vendor who scooped it out of a chilled display case and reheated it in a microwave. Still better than what I had in Barcelona. Actually, I sincerely enjoyed it.

But the best food was figs from a corner market. I could have eaten ten pounds of them.

Next stop: Tarifa. I was originally going to Cadiz next, but I can't get to Tarifa from Cadiz. I guess the bus schedule changed since I made the trip plans. All good, though. I'm in the mood to hang out on a beach for a few days.