As of: February 27, 2024, 3:00 p.m
By: Franziska Kaindl
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The Plaza de España is one of the most famous squares in the Spanish city of Seville.
However, if the mayor has his way, tourists will have to pay entrance fees in the future.
Mass tourism is increasingly causing problems for many popular holiday destinations.
The lagoon city of Venice has therefore introduced an entrance fee for day tourists, holidaymakers have had to pay a tourist tax for trips to Bali since February and Amsterdam has increased the bed tax for visitors.
Now the Andalusian city of Seville would also like to ask its guests to pay extra - if they want to enter the famous Plaza de España.
For many local politicians and locals, this goes too far.
Seville's mayor plans entry fee for tourists at Plaza de España
The Plaza de España in Seville could soon become a charge for tourists.
© Cezary Wojtkowski/Imago
“We plan to close off the Plaza de España and charge tourists a fee to finance the maintenance of the square and guarantee its safety,” wrote the mayor of the southern Spanish metropolis, José Luis Sanz, on the X platform, formerly Twitter .
Access will remain free for residents of Seville and for everyone born in the city, it said.
However, there was no information about the planned entrance fee and a possible date for the introduction of the fee.
“Joke”, “arbitrary”, “terrible”: Criticism of the planned entrance fee at the Plaza de España
Meanwhile, the conservative politician's plan immediately sparked criticism and outrage among politicians in Seville.
The “privatization of public space is firmly rejected,” said the spokesman for the socialist city council group, Antonio Muñoz, among others, in the newspaper
Diario de Sevilla
on Monday .
It could just be a “joke”.
“Nobody would think of closing off St. Mark’s Square in Venice or the Plaza Mayor in Madrid,” emphasized Muñoz.
In the “capital” of flamenco and tapas, it might make more sense to introduce an overnight tax for tourists, as is already levied in other cities.
According to Diario de Sevilla
, the representative of the national government in Andalusia, Pedro Fernández Peñalver, also described the plans
as “arbitrary” and stated: “I do not agree with the closure of a square that was intended to embrace the world.”
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There is also criticism on social networks ,
including in the comments under Sanz's announcement on
:
the María Luisa Park) and the fact that you can walk around there and enjoy the view.
If you need money, impose a tourist tax, but don't continue to turn our city into a theme park," complained one user.
Another user writes: “Terrible.
The Plaza de España has never been crowded, the entrance fee would only serve to line the pockets of those at the top.”
The Plaza de España is considered one of the biggest tourist attractions in the Andalusian capital, which is characterized by Moorish, Roman and Christian influences.
The impressive, approximately 50,000 square meter semicircular square was built for the Ibero-American Exhibition in 1929 and is intended, among other things, to symbolize Spain's embrace of the former Latin American colonies.