Torre Sevilla: the tower that broke the rules

As we’d seen everything we wanted to see in Seville this time around, and given the weather, we thought it’d be worth visiting the shopping centre at Torre Sevilla. We grabbed breakfast and got an Uber over, as it was absolutely tipping it down.

We first heard about the tower on our boat trip, and I’ve read up on it since. For years, Seville had an unwritten rule that no building should be taller than the Giralda, the cathedral’s bell tower. Then along came Torre Sevilla: 180.5 metres and 40 floors, making it the tallest building in Andalusia and almost twice the height of the Giralda! It caused such a stir that UNESCO asked that it be shortened, and Seville came close to having its World Heritage status put at risk. The tower was finished anyway, in 2015. Fascinating!

The shopping centre

I won’t lie, it was a little disappointing. We both expected better shops, and perhaps more “classic” Spanish ones, but it felt like walking through a shopping centre in the UK! It looked nice, but it didn’t quite have what we wanted. We did explore Primark, which was a bit weird considering we have them at home. It felt familiar, yet slightly different!

We thought we’d try bowling, but that was closed, which was another disappointment. In the end, we went to Starbucks, where I grabbed a coffee and the Sevilla cup I’d been after. We sat for a bit and had a chat about what to do next, and decided to walk back to the hotel through parts of Seville we hadn’t seen yet.

An old station and a Mercadona

The first thing we came across was an old train station that’s been converted into a small shopping centre, with an Action, a McDonald’s and a few other shops. This is Plaza de Armas. The first train arrived here in 1901, and the last one left in 1990, and it’s been a shopping centre since 1999. It looked stunning, and you could really feel the building’s history!

Just as we left the building, we spotted our first Mercadona of the trip, in a building shaped a bit like a colosseum. We hadn’t realised there was one nearby! If you remember our short trip to Barcelona in 2024, we both loved that shop, and this one didn’t disappoint. We picked up a few last-minute snacks to take home and carried on back towards the hotel.

One last look at the cathedral

We walked back via the cathedral, which was good to see one last time. Even in bad weather, it was still very busy! It was a long walk back, but that’s no surprise with my friend!

By this point, the weather was getting worse. The rain was getting heavier, and the wind was picking up, so we stayed in the hotel for the afternoon, as there wasn’t much else we wanted to do.

For dinner, we ordered from our favourite food place of the trip, VIPS. Afterwards, my friend and I talked through the whole holiday: what we liked, what we didn’t, and our scores. I’ll include all of that in the final review blog once I’m home!

And with that, our last full day came to an end. It’s been a bit of a washout, which is a shame, but we can’t control the weather. Yesterday in Gibraltar was spectacular, so we can’t complain too much!

It’s been an amazing trip, and we’re both far more relaxed than when we arrived. But as they say, all good things must come to an end. (All bad things come to an end too. Remember that!) I’ll do a full rundown at the weekend, with our final review of the holiday and both of our scores.

Tomorrow: Day 9, heading home

Tomorrow, we head to the airport. We have a late flight, currently scheduled for 20:15 Spanish time, getting us back to the UK at around 22:00, and then I’ll be driving us home.

We’ve got a late check-out at 15:00 for one of the rooms. There was no point paying for both, so we’ll hang out in my friend’s room until it’s time to leave. That gives us the morning to pick up any last-minute bits. Our Uber is booked for 15:15, and then we’ll relax in the lounge until our flight.

So join us tomorrow for Day 9, our travel day home. See you then!