Plaza de España in Seville was built for the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition, a world’s fair designed to strengthen ties between Spain and the nations of Latin America and Portugal. Architect Aníbal González created a sweeping semicircular complex blending Baroque Revival, Renaissance Revival, and Moorish-influenced Neo-Mudéjar styles.
The plaza’s signature feature is a series of ceramic tile alcoves, each representing one of Spain’s provinces with a map and historical scene, lining the curved building. A canal crosses the square, spanned by four bridges symbolizing the medieval kingdoms of Spain, and rowboats can still be rented to paddle along it.
Early morning or late afternoon visits are best, when the golden light sets the ochre buildings and colorful tilework aglow and the plaza is far less crowded than at midday.