# crowded Seville



## skip o (Aug 1, 2011)

I am still trying to learn when certain Spanish cities are busy, so I can travel at some other time. During the end of October of 2015 I visited Seville and it wasn't crowded with tourists at all. I went there again last week, November 22-26, and I was surprised how crowded it was. Any ideas why? Futbol game? Improving economy?


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

skip o said:


> I am still trying to learn when certain Spanish cities are busy, so I can travel at some other time. During the end of October of 2015 I visited Seville and it wasn't crowded with tourists at all. I went there again last week, November 22-26, and I was surprised how crowded it was. Any ideas why? Futbol game? Improving economy?


We usually go every year in mid November (didn't make it this year due to having moved house) and it has always been pretty busy at that time. We stopped going at the weekend because in some areas it was so diifficult to walk around in the evenings because of crowds of people standing around outside bars (they weren't causing any trouble, just that it was hard to navigate around them) and went midweek instead.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

We don't go there any more than we have to. We spent a couple of nights there in 2005 and generally found people less than friendly. Our visits, since, have been of necessity (ophthalmology appointments, visit to Colombian Consulate, etc.) so we go on a Sunday stay overnight in a hotel for a very early appointment and back here by lunchtime because SWMBO works in the afternoon.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

skip o said:


> I am still trying to learn when certain Spanish cities are busy, so I can travel at some other time. During the end of October of 2015 I visited Seville and it wasn't crowded with tourists at all. I went there again last week, November 22-26, and I was surprised how crowded it was. Any ideas why? Futbol game? Improving economy?


They played Liverpool in the Champion's League on 21 Nov so perhaps it was full of scousers! 

But normally this is a good time of year to go. And there are lots of interesting areas to explore that never get very crowded.


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## danboy20 (Jul 10, 2017)

Maybe the Christmas market? Cities generally get busier during run up to xmas.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

danboy20 said:


> Maybe the Christmas market? Cities generally get busier during run up to xmas.


But in Spain the run-up to Christmas doesn't really start till after the December puente (Immaculate Conception/Constitition) 6-8 December. We are supposed to put our decorations up then, according to my neighbours. But it seems way too early for me!

The Seville Christmas market starts on 15 December this year. It is absolutely amazing, especially the little characters made for nativity scenes. Well worth a visit!


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

I was just reading the other day in the Diario de Sevilla that tourism in Seville is breaking all the records. There are lots of factors at play: In October Lonely Planet named Seville as the best city to travel to; airlines have added new routes to Seville; with the instability in Cataluña tourists are choosing alternate destinations including Seville; the strong dollar is bringing more Americans than ever (to all of Spain); and there are an increasing number of conventions being held in Seville. Add to that the unusually warm and dry weather we've been having, and I guess it all translates to Seville's streets being packed. 

I was in Seville city center last Friday for the Black Friday sales, and there were so many people in the streets you could barely walk. They were also holding the annual market for nativity scene figurines (Feria del Belen) - I'm not sure if this is the Christmas market that someone else was referring to. The annual hand crafts market will start up on December 15.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Alcalaina said:


> But in Spain the run-up to Christmas doesn't really start till after the December puente (Immaculate Conception/Constitition) 6-8 December. We are supposed to put our decorations up then, according to my neighbours. But it seems way too early for me!
> 
> The Seville Christmas market starts on 15 December this year. It is absolutely amazing, especially the little characters made for nativity scenes. Well worth a visit!


Whenever we've been to Seville in mid November the market selling Belen items adjacent to the cathedral has always been in full swing. I've bought quite a few things for my dolls' houses there, especially plants and flowers. They are just the right scale and quite a bit cheaper than the equivalents sold in specialist miniatures shops.


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## kdsb (May 3, 2015)

skip o said:


> I am still trying to learn when certain Spanish cities are busy, so I can travel at some other time. During the end of October of 2015 I visited Seville and it wasn't crowded with tourists at all. I went there again last week, November 22-26, and I was surprised how crowded it was. Any ideas why? Futbol game? Improving economy?


Nov 22-26 was this year's Thanksgiving holiday in the United States so I imagine there is a surge in American tourists during this time. My husband's aunt visited us in Spain last year during the Thanksgiving week. Offices are closed for 2-3 days so it's easy to take a week off without using vacation time. And when I was in Sevilla last December (during another popular week for Americans to travel) it seemed full of Americans, so must be a popular destination. It could be factor that tips the whole city into being more crowded than usual.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Lynn R said:


> Whenever we've been to Seville in mid November the market selling Belen items adjacent to the cathedral has always been in full swing. I've bought quite a few things for my dolls' houses there, especially plants and flowers. They are just the right scale and quite a bit cheaper than the equivalents sold in specialist miniatures shops.


You're right, there is a separate market for these and I mixed them up. There's another Mercado de Navidad which starts on 15 Dec.

https://www.mercados-navidad.es/mercado-de-navidad-en-sevilla/


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