Plaza de España Seville: Rowboats, Azulejo Benches, and That Star Wars Filming Location

Most visitors walk around the perimeter, photograph the bridge, and leave. This is the wrong approach.

Plaza de España is free, needs no booking, and takes about 45 minutes to do properly. It's also one of the most photogenic spaces in Europe, the filming location for a Star Wars movie, and home to 58 individual tile vignettes that make for a surprisingly good scavenger hunt.

What It Is

Built for the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition — Spain's showcase to the world. The semi-circular complex stretches 170 metres, with a curved neoclassical facade, a central tower at each end, and a canal across the front with four ornate bridges. The architect Aníbal González designed it to blend Renaissance Revival architecture with Andalucían tilework. It took a decade to build.

It opened just as the Great Depression was making the exposition considerably less triumphant than planned. The plaza didn't care. It was magnificent anyway.

The Azulejo Benches: Don't Skip These

Running the full length of the curved building is a series of 58 alcoves, each dedicated to a different Spanish province. Each has a handpainted tile bench showing the province's coat of arms and a scene from its history.

This is more interesting than it sounds. The tiles are fine, the detail is good, and walking the full arc to find each province takes about 25 minutes. You'll accidentally learn Spanish geography. The provinces are arranged roughly alphabetically starting from the northern end — pick a region and work toward it.

The Rowboats

The canal in front of the plaza is navigable by rowboat. Underrated.

Rental kiosks operate along the canal from mid-morning until early evening.

• Cost: around €6 per boat (holds 2-4 people), roughly 30-35 minutes
• What you get: A slow drift under the ornate bridges, with the full curved facade rising above you

The canal is enclosed, shallow, and forgiving. You don't need rowing experience. The scale of the plaza only makes sense from the water.

The Star Wars Bit

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones used Plaza de España as the capital city of Naboo — the scenes where Anakin and Padmé walk through the palace gardens. Filmed here in 2001.

The filming used the arcade walkway along the curved main facade, the central stairs, and the bridge detail. If you've seen Episode II, you'll place it immediately when you walk through the arched gallery. No official markers, no plaques. You're just standing where it happened.

Photography

Early morning (7-8:30am) is the only time you'll have the square largely to yourself. Soft light, empty bridges, clean reflections in the canal.

Midday is the hardest light and most crowded. Still worth visiting — just don't expect empty shots.

The interior arcade gallery (covered, running the full length of the facade) is good in any light and underused by photographers focused on the main courtyard view.

The end towers are accessible for free (narrow spiral staircase, 5 minutes) and give an elevated view of the full semi-circular complex. Not many visitors bother, which is exactly why you should.

Practical Details

• Entry: Free, no booking, open all day
• Getting there: 15-minute walk south from the city centre along Avenida de Isabel la Católica, or a quick taxi
• Best time: Early morning or late afternoon; avoid midday heat in summer
• Time needed: 45 minutes; longer if you do the rowboat
• Nearby: María Luisa Park immediately surrounds the plaza — a pleasant extension

Plaza de España pairs well with the Alcázar and Cathedral into a full southern-city day. For how to sequence that, timing tips, and where to eat nearby, the Seville ConciseTravel guide has the routing.