A Winter’s Day in Plaza de España

I’ve previously posted about the wealth of photographic opportunities Seville provided during my weekend visit back in November.  The absolute highlight, both for me and my camera, was the Plaza de España.  The Plaza was built to wow, and wow it does.  Although built in 1929 it has the impressive grandiosity of a building much older.  The style demonstrates both Renaissance and Moorish influences and is an icon of Spain, but there is a whiff (breathe deeply) of Venice too, as a canal runs along the curve of the buildings and under arched bridges.  It wouldn’t be out of place to sing a quick rendition of “Just One Cornetto…” as you paddled round in your €5 per hour pedalo.

I had already walked around the wide semi-circle of tiled walls, arches and alcoves but with the plaza the size of five football pitches and me with no wide-angle lens I found it hard to capture a sense of the place and focused on the ceramic details that embellish the place.  Thinking that I’d exhausted all the potential and focusing instead on enjoying the moment, I was sat on a step taking everything in and doing some people watching when I noticed the low winter’s light was creating a perfect rainbow in the spray being blown from the central fountain.  Miraculously I was able to capture it on “film” too, as it perfectly framed the government buildings of the Plaza.

I promise that these images have been subject to virtually no digital enhancement.  The sky really was that blue, no graduated filter needed.  The rainbow really was that intense.  And the ‘golden hour’ lived up to its name by bringing out the hues of the brickwork and some sharp contrasts.