Discover Seville at Christmas

Christmas is the time for gathering with the loved ones and doing great family plans. Seville’s Christmas temperatures will allow you to enjoy the city, eat in the sun and discover a Christmas setting when the sun goes down. Rated as one of the best European Christmas capitals, AMA residents can enjoy it each year as it is only 1 hour away from AMA Residences Andalucía. 

The atmosphere of the streets of Seville, full of golden bulbs, traditional nativity scenes, choirs of bell ringers, the smell of oranges and roasted chestnuts, will captivate you. “A place where, despite temperatures of six degrees Celsius at nine in the morning, you could have lunch outdoors and without a coat in 21 degrees Celsius by mid-afternoon”, says The Times about Seville at Christmas. Find out all about it!

Music and Christmas go hand in hand in Seville

The houses and streets are filled with Christmas carols, no need to wait for the New Year’s concert in Vienna. Enjoy the magic of Seville’s bell ringers without waiting too long and without going too far. Candlelight designs these Christmas concerts to delight you with the best live music. 

Don’t forget to go between 18h and 23h to the Plaza de San Francisco (behind the Seville Town Hall) and let yourself be amazed by a visual and musical spectacle, next to the great 40-metre high fir tree.

Christmas bar crawl

In case the festive season whets your appetite, we suggest a series of restaurants that are perfect for your Christmas meals. Recoveco, with its views of the Giralda, is a glassed-in but air-conditioned terrace, where you can eat everything from “cuchareo” to Iberian starters and seafood from the Andalusian coast. In the heart of Plaza del Altozano, Casa de María is a privileged location to look out over the Guadalquivir from the banks of Triana. But if you are looking for a more traditional and familiar place, the Antigua Abacería de San Lorenzo is undoubtedly the place for you. 

However, what always triumphs are the classic tapas bars, “los de toda la vida”. On this occasion we recommend: Casa Eme and its sirloin steak with whisky; El Rinconcillo and its spinach with chickpeas; Casa Ricardo and its croquettes; Blanco Cerrillo and its marinated anchovies; Bodeguita Romero and its “montaíto de pringá”; and Bodega Antonio Romero and its “piripi” (a small sandwich of loin, bacon, cheese, tomato, mayonnaise and its secret ingredient, which nobody has managed to reveal yet). Will you manage to reveal it?

Enjoy the Christmas lights with your family in Seville 2021

285 streets have been selected to be lit up for Christmas in 2021. You have no excuse not to visit them. The Town Hall, as every year, is dressed in gold and three beautiful Christmas trees of different sizes have been installed in Plaza Nueva.

One of the most traditional customs in Seville is to queue up for all the Nativity scenes. Although the Christmas trees are gaining more and more fame, the most typical is the Nativity Scene. We recommend you to see:

  • Belén del Arquillo, the classic Nativity Scene at street level on the side of the Seville Town Hall.
  • The Nativity Scene in Seville Cathedral.
  • Hall of the Apeadero del Alcázar: Belén Popular Canario.
  • Palace of the Marquises of Algaba: Mudejar style Nativity Scene.
  • Casa Fabiola: Neapolitan Nativity Scene from the Bellver art collection in its courtyard.
  • Cajasol Nativity Scene, a childhood classic that never fails.
  • Nativity scene at the Hospital San Juan de Dios.

Don’t forget to take a tour of the Christmas fir trees. The main locations of Seville’s Christmas trees are: Puerta Jerez, Plaza Cuba, Plaza San Francisco and Santa Justa.

Do some shopping at Seville’s Christmas markets

One of the most significant Christmas markets in Seville is the one for figurines for the Nativity Scene, next to the Archivo de Indias. You can also go to the Christmas Market in Nervión Plaza, the Creative Crafts Fair in Plaza Nueva, the Christmas Market in Alameda de Hércules and the Souk in María Luisa Park. 

Christmas sweets are an absolute must on your visit to Seville. The turrones of Los Valencianos 1946, on Calle Adriano 32, are a must; Manu Jara’s Panettone: classic, hazelnut and chocolate, and walnut and sultana, on Calle Pureza 5; the last of our Christmas sweets is, of course, the mantecado. The most abundant sweet at Christmas in Seville.  However, to enjoy an authentic and traditional flavour without leaving Seville, La Despensa de Palacio is the perfect place.

And don’t forget the sweets from the cloistered convents of Seville and the province.

Have hot chocolate with churros to warm up.

There is no snack more Christmasy and Sevillian than churros with chocolate. This delicacy of the gods is a must on a cold Christmas afternoon, after a stroll around the markets and lights. There are several very typical places, one of the most emblematic of which is La Centuria, right in the centre. 

The Three Wise Men Parade

Last but not least, the final culmination of the Christmas festivities in Seville, the traditional Three Wise Men parade, which travels through the streets and avenues handing out sweets and illusion to young and old on 5th January. But if you have the chance, visit the Three Wise Men parade in Higuera de la Sierra. A spectacular parade with floats depicting scenes from the life of Jesus. 

And of course, enjoy the classic Roscón de Reyes from La Campana. If you don’t know what it is, it is a round, ring-shaped bun topped with coloured frosted fruit simulating the jewels encrusted in the crown of a medieval king and filled with cream or truffle.

Will you come and discover Seville at Christmas? Just over an hour from AMA Residences Andalucía you will find a wide range of Christmas entertainment, good temperatures, delicious food and a classic Christmas setting.