EXCERPT FROM SARA’S JOURNALMarch 1, 1999
Calle Conde de Barajas, Seville
A Walk In The Park
It’s balmy, perfect for a stroll in the Parque Maria Luisa.
The vast area was landscaped by Jean-Claude Forestier, director of the Bois de Bologne
in Paris, who created a lush, orange-blossom setting for the pavilions of the 1929
Ibero-American Exposition. The park is adorned with fountains and pools, flower gardens
and shady, tree-lined avenues. It takes its name from Princess Maria Luisa de Orleans, who
donated part of the grounds from the Palacio de San Telmo (University of
Navigation) to the city in 1893.
The Parque Maria Luisa is crowned by the dazzling Plaza de
Espana, the centrepiece of the 1929 Exposition. The Exposition sought to reinstate
Spain and Andalusia as part of an arts and science-minded world, with exhibitions from
Spain, Portugal and Latin America. Other striking legacies of the Exposition are the Hotel
Alfonso XIII, with an ornate Neo-Mudejar interior, the Neo-Baroque Teatro Lope de Vega
which was used as Seville’s Pavilion and the Museo de Artes y Costumbres Populares
(the Mudejar Pavilion), which now exhibits traditional costumes and a detailed history of
the azulejo.
The former Real Fabrica de Tabacos (The Royal Tobacco Factory)
is now part of the University of Seville. Built between 1728-1771 it is the second-largest
building in Spain. In the 19th Century, three-quarters of Europe’s cigars
were manufactured here, rolled on the thighs of over 3,000 cigareras (female
cigar-makers). These workers inspired French author Prosper Merimee to create his now
famous gypsy Carmen in his 1845 short story. After Bizet based his 1875 opera on the
heroine, Carmen was established as the embodiment of Spain’s romantic soul.
There is a moat and watchtowers, giving evidence to the importance of protecting the
King’s lucrative tobacco monopoly. From the park we can look across the river at the
modern factory.
Costurero de la Reina, or "the Queen’s sewing
box" sits at the southern corner of the park. It looks like candy—striped pink
and cream, with a zigzag cake-trim border at the top. It was a garden house where Princess
Maria Luisa visited. Today it is the headquarters of the municipal tourist office.
The park is dotted with strollers, kids on roller-skates, delighted
dogs and kiosks selling popcorn and ice cream. There is a noise in the distance. We follow
it and arrive at a crowd, cheering, with a man yelling excitedly into a microphone. The
final stragglers of the Marathon Sevilla are limping across the finish line after 42
kilometres, at a time of exactly five hours.
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