Camping in Seville: the capital of flamenco, the green sierra and the stately countryside
Seville is the capital of Andalusia and one of the most vibrant cities in Spain. Going camping in its surroundings means having one of the richest historic centres in the country just a few kilometres away, where the Cathedral and the Giralda, the Real Alcázar, the Plaza de España and the Santa Cruz quarter form a World Heritage Site that is best explored on foot, unhurried and without the rigid timetables of a hotel. The Triana district, the cradle of flamenco and handmade ceramics, and El Arenal, beside the Guadalquivir river, are essential stops for understanding the personality of this city that mixes monuments, tapas and street life with a naturalness that is hard to imitate.
The province of Seville is much more than its capital. The Sierra Norte de Seville, declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, occupies the Seville flank of Sierra Morena with holm oak and cork oak pastures, clear streams and villages that have kept a human scale away from the big tourist flows. Cazalla de la Sierra is the best-known municipality, famous for its aniseed spirits and its monumental group of churches and convents. Constantina, Alanís and El Pedroso have mountain scenery that is accessible for hiking and cycle touring without having to head for more crowded destinations. The drovers' roads and trails of the sierra let you travel through these slate and granite landscapes among rockrose, cork oaks and wild lavender.
The Seville countryside, which stretches south and east of the capital, holds some of the least-known historic towns in Andalusia. Carmona, on a strategic hill thirty kilometres from Seville, has a Roman necropolis, a Moorish citadel and an old town of medieval streets that preserves the layers of two millennia of history. Écija, known as the city of towers, has Baroque churches with bell gables that rise above the plain of the Campiña like stone lighthouses. Osuna has a Renaissance collegiate church with works by Ribera and a 16th-century university that now serves as a cultural venue. This countryside of stately villages, olive groves and sunflower fields is the perfect complement to days in the city or the sierra.
The Seville climate shapes the camping season. Summers are the hottest on the Peninsula, with temperatures that regularly exceed forty degrees in July and August, which makes late spring and autumn the most advisable seasons for camping in a tent or bungalow in the inland area. Seville's cuisine is one of its most consistent attractions all year round: tapas in the bars of the centre and of Triana, acorn-fed ham from the northern sierra, spinach with chickpeas, battered cod (pavías), snails in spiced broth, fried egg with chips from La Campana and salmorejo from the vega make up a culinary route that on its own justifies the trip to this province of the Guadalquivir.
