Andalusia Places

Seville

Seville's whitewashed houses bright with bougainvillea, its ocher-colored palaces, and its baroque facades have long enchanted both Sevillanos and travelers. Lord Byron's well-known line,"Seville is a pleasant city famous for oranges and women," may be true, but is far too tame a comment: yes, the orange trees are pretty enough, but the fruit is too bitter to eat except as Scottish-made marmalade. And as for the women, stroll down the swankier pedestrian shopping streets and you can't fail to notice just how good-looking everyone is. Aside from being blessed with even features and flashing dark eyes, Sevillanos exude a cool sophistication that seems more Catalan than Andalusian.

This bustling city of more than 700,000 does have some downsides: traffic-choked streets, high unemployment, a notorious petty-crime rate, and at times the kind of impersonal treatment you won't find in the smaller cities of Granada and Córdoba.

Seville at a Glance

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