History of Seville

During the ancient age, the first human conglomerate emerged in the area of present-day Seville. It was formed by Phoenician traders and merchants and was baptized as Spal. This territory was later governed by Carthaginians until 206 BC. Roman troops conquered the territory under the command of Scipio Africanus, renaming it Italica.

During Roman rule, Italica accumulated enough power and influence to be declared a Roman colony thanks to its vibrant commercial drive. Around it grew another residential city, called Hispalis. In 426, the Vandals conquered Hispalis and Italica, extending their dominion until the 8th century.

Muslim Seville and the reconquest

In 712, Musa Ibn Nusair invaded the Iberian Peninsula under the command of 25,000 troops, taking over the Visigoth kingdom until they finally took over Seville in 713. At that time, it was renamed Hims, though the Mozarabic Christians called it Ixbilia or Sbilia. With the passage of time, it became Seville.

Under Arab rule, the city became a powerful enclave of the emirate of Al Andalus over the next 500 years. This created a certain stability between Muslims and Christians. However, a period of instability broke out due to the succession, which the Christians troops took advantage of. Thus, Ferdinand III of Castile began the reconquest, capturing Cordoba and Jaen, and ultimately capturing Seville in 1248.

From that moment on, Christian Andalusia became a geostrategic epicentre of vital importance and enormous political and economic influence thanks to the successive reigns that would have their court in Seville.

Despite the turbulent 14th century, when the city suffered the onslaught of the terrible Black Death epidemic of 1348, the subsequent earthquake of 1355 and the traumatic anti-Jewish revolt of 1391, which generated an economic crisis of enormous magnitude, the city managed to stabilize and increase its population.

The glory of the 16th century

At the end of the 15th century, Seville enjoyed—thanks to its port—a thriving shipping and soap industry that generated great income. This situation improved in an unexpected way in 1492 when the discovery of America turned the port of Seville into a natural route for trade between the New World and the metropolis.

This important commercial increase transformed Seville into a cosmopolitan city thanks to the presence of Germans, Genoese and Florentines who lived in the thriving city as commercial agents, this despite the traumatic forced conversion of the Islamic minority that still lived in Seville, becoming known as Moorish, in 1502.

This prosperity reached its zenith when, in 1614, the so-called Keisho Expedition arrived in the city under the command of Hasekura Tsunenaga from Japan. Its intention was to establish commercial and diplomatic relations with the West, which further increased the political influence of Seville.

However, a new and devastating epidemic in the mid-17th century severely affected the city, both demographically and economically. The rise of Madrid as the new capital of the Spanish Empire diminished the importance of Seville, which was still sustained thanks to trade with the American colonies.

The Napoleonic invasion and modernity

At the beginning of the 19th century, Seville was decimated by a virulent yellow fever epidemic that affected all of Andalusia. The situation worsened after the Napoleonic invasion of 1808, in which the city was besieged and taken without firing a single shot despite the deep anti-Napoleonic and anti-French sentiment among the population.

After the withdrawal of Marshal Claude-Victor Perrin's troops, due to defeat in the Battle of Triana Bridge in 1812, the city was sacked. The subsequent Carlist War in the 1930s deepened the crisis.

Not until the arrival of the railway in 1859 and the subsequent modernization of the city would Seville recover part of its socioeconomic thrust characterized by a vibrant railway trade that replaced the sea trade.

The arrival of electricity in the city enhanced its prosperity through the construction of many buildings, theatres and palaces. In addition, the so-called urban expansion, which extended the original limits of the city, increased its population.

Despite this apparently prosperous growth, the city's working class, especially the peasants and workers, lived in terrible conditions. This gave rise to a large-scale social movement against the aristocracy and the clergy.

The 20th and 21st centuries

The situation worsened after the economic depression of 1929, which severely affected Seville. Social unrest led to the declaration of the Second Republic in 1931, and the subsequent political instability gave rise to the bloody Spanish Civil War in 1936. This turned the city into a battlefield.

Under Franco's command, the crisis deepened until the mid-1960s, when economic recovery generated certain improvements in the city through a series of public works. However, not until the arrival of democracy at the beginning of the 1980s would Seville experience a new period of prosperity.

With the arrival of the 21st century, Seville became a city with a modern impulse thanks to a series of eclectic and interesting new constructions such as the Metropol Parasol and the Seville Tower.

Public transportation was also renewed and transformed. The intention was to turn the city into an ecotourism epicentre with green management. In addition, a network of lanes designed for bicycles was created.

All these changes are transforming Seville into a more humane and attractive city, not only for regional tourism but also for foreign investment, with the intention of using the city's port to compete with new and emerging economies.