Seville

Seville, the capital of Andalusia (Spain), is the fourth largest city of Spain with 703.000 inhabitants (1.500.000 including its metropolitan area).

Seville, located on the Plain of Guadalquivir River, has a leading role as an administrative and economy centre of southern Spain. Besides the longstanding tradition of aerospace industry, the economic activity of Seville is dominated by the service sector, which represents a significant share of the local economy and is focused on tourism. Other sectors with high development in the city have been specialized technical services such as architecture, engineering (with major internationalized companies as exponent) and creative and cultural industries, the latter with great potential.

Seville has three universities with over 80.000 students. One of them, The University of Seville, founded in 1505, has been recognized as a Campus of International Excellence, thanks to the Andalucia Tech Project.

Seville has a very long history. The passage of the various civilizations has left the city a distinct personality and a large and well-preserved historical centre with its most significant building declared as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The city is a highly recognized centre of creativity and musical activity and it is also a rich reflection of centuries of musical tradition and influence on a global scale.

In Seville, music is everywhere and above all engages everyone. From symphonies, operas and public open spaces dedicated to music, to foundations, youth organizations, schools and conservatories, the city offers all of its citizens a way to become involved in creating and appreciating music and the city continues to support and boost its industry with great pride.

In 2006 Seville was appointed by the UNESCO as the first Creative City of Music. Its most famous music festival is Bienal de Flamenco, genre that was recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2010.

As a Creative City of Music, Seville envisages:

• enhancing our musical heritage among citizens, organizing activities throughout the city to reach a wide range of population groups.
• collaborating with other local institutions and supporting initiatives from the local music scene.
• promoting musical exchanges with the other Cities of Music in order to create opportunities and possibilities for the international promotion of local musicians.
• fostering cultural tourism as a factor of sustainable development.
• exchanging “know-how”, best practices and expertise between Cities on music education.
• establishing an international cooperation network in order to develop programmes encouraging mobility of works and artists.
• stimulating broad cooperation between musical actors from the public and private sectors of all Cities of Music.

(city picture: Catedral de noche – ©Juan Carlos Muñoz)

Proposed Links

ICAS Website
Bienal de Flamenco
Early Music Festival
Monkey Week Festival
Seville City of Opera
Video: Seville Creative City of Music