Only in Seville by Duncan J.D. Smith

Parque de María Luisa The Plaza de España was imbued with much symbolism. The semi- circular design, for ex- ample, represented Spain embracing its former colonies, and the orien­ tation towards the Gua- dalquivir, referenced the river that carried mari- ners and merchants to the Americas. The four bridges crossing the canal represented the four an- cient kingdoms of Spain – Asturias, Castile, Gali- cia and León. Addition- ally, the crescent had at its foot a series of alcoves representing the forty eight Spanish provinces, each covered in azulejos depicting key events in their history. The curi- ous shelved ‘lanterns’ ei- ther side of each alcove originally contained pro- motional literature extol- ling the virtues of each province. The crescent today is home to a variety of offi- cial organisations, as well as a small but informative Military History Museum beneath the northern tower. Its holdings range from mod- els of the defences of various Andalucian towns to full-size artillery pieces. Science fiction fans probably know that the Plaza de España appears in the Star Wars film Attack of the Clones (2002), in which it doubles as the city of Theed on the planet Naboo. In Lawrence of Arabia (1962) it stands in for British Army headquarters in Cairo. Other locations nearby: 49, 50, 51, 52, 54, 55 The Plaza de España built for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 113