In a previous post, we went into early Sevillan and Andalusian history. In this post we’ll bring the history of Seville up to the present day.
We left Seville at a very low point in 1649, when the Great Plague killed about half of the city’s population. Previous to that, the great Cervantes (1547-1616) lived here from 1596 to 1600, working as a tax collector and purveyor for the Spanish armada. He went to prison in 1597, due to irregularities in his accounts, but was released shortly thereafter. In Seville he wrote one of his more famous stories, Rincón and Cordato, which recounts the misadventures of two petty criminals taken in by a guild of thieves. It is a satirical work valuable for its portrayal of Sevillian society at the time. We often see signs around town marking out this or that place as mentioned in the work.
In 1812, in Cadiz (just a short distance from Seville), representatives from Spain and its possessions ratified a new constitution. It was in some ways an amazingly liberal document: it guaranteed freedom of the press and the separation of powers. It made most male citizens eligible to vote. And it established a constitutional monarchy and parliament. It also proclaimed Roman Catholicism as the official state religion. This constitution ultimately gave way to others (the current one is Spain’s seventh, established in 1978), but it remained influential for a long time, not only in Spain but also in other European nations.
was debated and written
It was in the 19th century that Seville finally rebounded from its low point. Queen Isabel II, (r. 1843-1868) undertook new buildings and constructions, both private and public. These include the bridge that bears her name, though today most people call it the Triana bridge (see featured image). The late 19th century brought electricity and the railway.
Spain was neutral in World War I, and so did not see the horrors of that particular conflict. From 1929 to 1930 the city hosted the Ibero-American Exposition, a fair that included most of the countries of North, Central and South America. For this exhibition the city built Maria-Luisa Park and the Plaza de España. The latter remains one of the most beautiful urban spaces anywhere, and is a particular favourite of ours.
The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) brought to a head many conflicts that had been brewing in Spain for some time. The war pitted Republicans against Nationalists. The former were more liberal, the latter more conservative and supported by the military and the Church. The Great Powers were formally neutral in this war, although a vast number of volunteers from Mexico, Cuba, and many European countries went to fight on behalf of the Republicans in so-called ‘International Brigades’. The Nationalists eventually won. (From that party emerged Francisco Franco, the brutal dictator who ruled Spain from 1939 until his death in 1975.) Seville fell in the first year of the war to the Nationalists, who executed around 8,000 civilians. A law passed in 2007 removed all public symbols of Franco’s regime. Today, near the Basilica de la Macarena, there is a small monument that commemorates those killed in Sevilla by the Nationalists.
Under Franco, Spain was formally neutral in World War II, though it gave covert aid to the Axis powers. Spain itself remained isolated, as it was to do until Franco’s death. Thereafter Spain finally came into the 20th century. The first democratic elections occurred in April 1979; Seville elected four different political parties to office. In 1992, the city hosted an international exhibition marking the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ discovery of the Americas. Remains of the vast park are visible today. And although Columbus and his legacy look rather different today, especially in the Americas, he remains a great hero to the people of Seville and Spain more generally.
As always, there is much more to the story than we have given you here, but perhaps this brief outline will inspire you to learn more!
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