Seville is always an attractive and appetizing city, but there are certain dates that have an extra in the capital of Seville and no, this time we are not going to refer to its famous April Fair or Easter, but to December and Christmas, a few weeks in which our city shines brighter than ever and in which, As in the rest of the year, almost all plans are lived in the street and with a lot of passion.
At Singular Apartments we love this time of year and we also get caught up in the Christmas spirit. Proof of this are the activities we carry out around this festivity. We decorate our apartments in a special way, we leave some sweet details to our guests and we have been performing, for some years now, our Christmas Concert which, on this occasion, will be held on December 14 in our usual meeting place: the courtyard of the Corral de San José apartments, where we will enjoy Christmas carols from all over the world and a Christmas stew.
In addition, our apartments, as we have already pointed out on previous occasions, are located in the heart of the city, right where the bulk of the activities take place during this Christmas season, so, if you decide to come to Seville during these days and stay with us, you will be lucky enough to be able to experience first-hand many of the proposals that we will detail below. Looking forward to Christmas?
December and Christmas in Seville in ten experiences
December long weekend
The beginning of December is marked on the calendar by the December long weekend, with Constitution Day and Immaculate Conception Day as public holidays in Spain. This year, for those who are lucky enough to enjoy it, it runs from Friday to Monday. It is the prelude to Christmas and a perfect occasion to visit Seville, which will already be adorned with the brightness of these dates (the Christmas lights have been inaugurated this year just the weekend before the long weekend). Also during these days you can already enjoy some of the activities of the municipal Christmas program (Alumbra), such as light and sound shows in the Plaza de San Francisco, which can be seen for the first time during the long weekend.
In addition, you can visit the Nativity Scene Fair of Seville, the most important in Spain and in the heart of the historic center; go to take a look at the Old Book Fair, in the Plaza Nueva until December 9; learn about the tradition of the Sixes in the Cathedral; listen to the tuna in the Barrio de Santa Cruz, from 10:45 p.m. on December 7 or, as an alternative plan, go to the Seville Conference and Exhibition Center (Fibes) to enjoy video games and Japanese culture with Mangafest (from December 6 to 8).
Stroll through its illuminated streets
The attractive temperature of Seville invites you to stroll through its streets at almost all times of the year. A simple gesture that can become a wonderful experience from the beginning of December, with the Christmas lighting already inaugurated (this year from November 29). Seville will have nearly 300 streets illuminated and decorated with Christmas decorations that will be lit every day from 6:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., being the schedule from 6:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. on December 24 and 31 and January 5.
On the other hand, you could perfectly do a gymkhana to find the up to ten Christmas trees that will be dotted throughout the city (Plaza Nueva, Puerta Jerez, Plaza de Cuba, Santa Justa Station, Alameda de Hércules, Polígono Sur, Torreblanca, Glorieta Párroco Gabriel Ramos Chávez, Glorieta de los Melinares and Rotonda Aeronáutica). Are you up for it?
Enjoy its light and music shows
The Plaza de San Francisco in the Seville capital, very close to all our apartment buildings, will host this year one of the most significant and special light shows of Seville’s Christmas. A group of eight angels ten meters high will illuminate, to the rhythm of music, the back square of the City Hall with a beautiful light and sound show for all audiences, which will be inaugurated during the Immaculate Conception Bridge.
The Setas de la Encarnación, the Plaza de la Encarnación itself and the Alameda will also be the epicenter of light and music shows and family activities that we will explain later in this post.
On the route through the nativity scenes and Christmas markets
Can you imagine a Christmas without nativity scenes or craft markets? We don’t. If you travel to Seville and you like to get lost in these traditional markets, you are in luck, since in our city the Seville Nativity Scene Fair is celebrated, one of the most important in Spain and Europe, which has more than 15 exhibitors in which merchants sell all kinds of artisanal products related to the world of nativity scenes. This year marks its XXVI edition and its celebration is part of a packed Christmas program, along with the cycle of organ concerts of the Cathedral or the extraordinary Christmas concert of the Municipal Symphonic Band.
And if what you like is to visit nativity scenes, in Seville you can find a wide variety, some centenarians. We highlight the Neapolitan Nativity Scene from the art collection of Mariano Bellver, which this year can be seen for the first time in the central courtyard of Casa Fabiola from December 5, with musical performances. We also recommend the Canarian Popular Nativity Scene (in the Hall of the Town Hall Stop); the Mudejar Nativity Scene in the Palace of the Marqueses de la Algaba; the traditional Nativity Scene of the Arquillo of the Seville City Council; that of the Cathedral; that of the Cajasol Foundation (at its headquarters in the Plaza de San Francisco); that of the Círculo Mercantil; that of the San Juan de Dios Hospital or that of La Roldana, in the Church of Santa Cruz.
As for Christmas markets, we recommend a walk and, why not, the purchase of a whim or two, at the Creative Crafts Fair in Plaza Nueva; at the Nervión Christmas Market (Luis de Morales); by the Prado de San Sebastián or in the Alameda or Encarnación stalls.
Heavenly walk through workshops and convents
Another of the great plans that we recommend will enter you through several of the senses. We are talking about taking a sweet tour of the city’s workshops and convents to taste the typical Sevillian sweets (then some always fall for gifts or for home). They are prepared in an artisanal and traditional way and will taste like heaven.
Christmas carol time
Another infallible Christmas plan is carols and music bands. And we are not only talking about those that can be heard on loop through the public address system of the shopping areas, but also about those performed live and, of those there are many in Seville. Such as the Carol Choir that performs every year next to the Nativity Scene of the Arquillo of the City Council; or the parades of the music bands, which can be enjoyed throughout the month of December in the city center.
There is no shortage of ice rinks
One of the star leisure activities with the family, or not, of Christmas, are the ice rinks and in Seville there are more every year. Like the one that has been hosted since last Christmas by the Prado de San Sebastián, which is the largest in Europe. In the Prado, from December 4 to January 7, you can also enjoy a large Ferris wheel, a ramp for sleds, a space for gastronomy and crafts, a restaurant and children’s leisure area, a Christmas market and a Casita de los Reyes Magos.
This year there will be other skating rinks scattered around the city such as the Alameda de Hércules, another in the Christmas leisure space of the Setas de la Encarnación, or the new ice rink that Sevilla Este premiered on November 22.
Parades and micro mapping of the Santa Clara Space
In Seville you cannot miss the parades and mappings, which are more innovative every year. If the City Council surprised last year with a parade of polar bears in the middle of Avenida de la Constitución, this time it will do so with the announced parade of marine animals organized in collaboration with the Seville Aquarium. This parade will tour the Constitution on December 28 and 29.
And on the other hand, this year’s Christmas mapping promoted by the City Council, baptized as micro mapping Gastro Christmas Poem, can be enjoyed from December 21 to January 3 in the refectory of the Santa Clara Space (Beca street). It will have six daily passes of 15 minutes each in which different video-mapping techniques, smells and sounds will intervene, seeking the recreation of a virtual reality and parallel with Christmas as a common thread.
Family leisure activities
At Christmas you want to share plans with friends and family. From Singular Apartments we give you some ideas such as going to visit the aforementioned leisure spaces of the Prado de San Sebastián, the Alameda (with the Lipasam snow globe, light attractions and a skating rink and synthetic ice slide), the Mushrooms Palace, with night shows, or the Plaza de la Encarnación.
On the other hand, the Puerta Jerez will once again have a French carousel this year from December 2; and Fibes will host Sevillalandia (attractions for the whole family from December 21 to January 3).
Other cultural proposals for these dates
Finally, within Christmas leisure, there is always room for cultural proposals. In fact, many of the exhibitions and plans started in the autumn can still be seen in December, as is the case of the exhibition ‘Klimt’s Gold’, in the Navigation Pavilion until 15 December; or those at CaixaForum. We also recommend the musical ‘West Side Story’ scheduled at the Teatro de la Maestranza from December 5 to 12 or one of the six concerts that Fibes will host until January 6.
Speaking of concerts… have you ever witnessed one in a cleaning truck? In Seville you can enjoy the ‘Rockarround’, on Lipasam trucks, along with environmental workshops for the little ones.
We also recommend the Christmas activities scheduled in the Alcázar, such as ‘The Kings of the Alcázar’ or its children’s camps; all those related to the V Centenary of the First Circumnavigation of the World; the children’s activities in the urban gardens that the city has distributed throughout many of its neighborhoods; or the Dreamhack (from December 13 to 15) and the Videogame Party on December 21 and 22 in the San Francisco Pavilion. Pablo.