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Seville wants to charge tourists to visit the impressive Plaza de España in the future. “We plan to close the Plaza de España and charge tourists a fee to finance the maintenance of the square and guarantee its safety,” wrote the mayor of the southern Spanish metropolis José Luis Sanz on the X- platform, formerly Twitter.

Entry will remain free for Seville residents and anyone born in the city, the report said. Sanz did not mention the planned entrance fee or a possible date for the introduction of the fee.

Meanwhile, the conservative politician’s plan immediately sparked criticism and outrage, not only online, but also among politicians in Seville. The ‘privatization of public space is resolutely rejected’, said the spokesman for the socialist municipal group Antonio Muñoz on Monday in the newspaper ‘Diario de Sevilla’. It could just be a ‘joke’.

“No one would think of closing St. Mark’s Square in Venice or Plaza Mayor in Madrid,” Muñoz emphasizes. In the ‘capital’ of flamenco and tapas it might make more sense to introduce a night tax for tourists, as is already levied in other cities. Spokespeople for the left-wing central government in Madrid also announced measures to prevent the square from being cordoned off.

The Plaza de España is considered one of the biggest tourist attractions in the Andalusian capital, which is characterized by Moorish, Roman and Christian influences. The impressive, approximately 50,000 square meter semi-circular square was built for the Ibero-American Exposition in 1929 and is intended, among other things, to symbolize Spain’s embrace of the former Latin American colonies. (dab/sda/awp/dpa)