Although the busiest days at the Spanish cemeteries are All Saints and the Day of the Dead (celebrated in November 1st and 2nd, respectively), some cities bury their inhabitants in places that are worth a visit any day of the year. Seville’s San Fernando cemetery is one of them. It’s not just a matter of honouring and remembering those who lived before us. San Fernando cemetery offers a complete artistic and historical lesson to their visitors.

It was built in 1852, the very same year as the Triana Bridge, the Plaza Nueva and the first Sevilla railway line, replacing the old cemeteries that were spread through different areas of the city with a central burial ground situated in the northernmost section of the city.

Sevillan academic José María de Mena wrote a little but complete book in 1987 named Arte y curiosidades en el cementerio de Sevilla that provides one of the most complete guides to the cemetery and a handful of curiosities and anecdotes related to the people that have been buried here. In the book (which is available at Seville Provincial Library) we can read that the first and only time that the Macarena was dressed with black, mourning clothes was after bullfighter Joselito el Gallo died in 1920. His grave is a magnificent sculpture by Mariano Benlliure, that you can see on the photo above and this flickr set by González-Alba.

Real Betis and Sevilla FC emblems-shaped bouquets, by González-Alba

Probably the last of the massively attended funerals was Antonio Puerta’s, in 2007. The young Sevilla FC midfielder tragically passed away a few days after he collapsed during the season opening game. Thousands of both Sevilla FC and Real Betis supporters accompanied him in his last journey that was, in fact, the basis of the current peaceful relationship between the two clubs.

There are hundreds, or even thousands, of stories like this in the San Fernando cemetery. It may just be one of the city’s best kept secrets and, for sure, well-worth a visit before the day that we eventually go there on a one-way trip.

Many tourists that are new to the city notice that there is a ring of streets that surrounds the city centre, formed by the streets that currently bear the names of Ronda de Capuchinos, María Auxiliadora, Recaredo, San Fernando, Delicias, Colón and Torneo. If you look at them on a map, you see a clear difference between what is outside and inside the ring: wide, modern streets and neighbourhoods on the outer areas against the old, narrow streets of the inner space.

Curious visitors (and even some curious locals) also perceive that numerous little squares or plazas exist right on that circle, just between the old centre and the broad avenues. Their names are, in general, very similar, all starting with ‘Puerta de…’ or, in a couple of cases, with ‘Postigo de…’. For the curious visitors that, in addition, know a bit of Spanish, the words ‘puerta’ and ‘postigo’ suggest the existence of a gate or a wicket. Surprisingly, there is no way to find such objects. Well… in fact, there is.

If you visit the northern segment of the circle (the circle is, by the way, traditionally known as the ‘Ronda Histórica’) you’ll find the remains of the old Roman-Muslim walls that would surround the city centuries ago. Only a section of the wall has survived the expansion of the city. You can see it just next to the Macarena Basilica… not the most touristic spot of the city but a walk that is well worth a visit.

By the way, here are the names of the Puertas, clockwise and starting with the one situated at the north: Macarena, Córdoba, Sol, Osario, Carmona, Carne, San Fernando, Jerez, Carbón, Aceite, Arenal, Triana, Real, San Juan and Barqueta. The two wickets, of which no trace is left, were called Portillo de los Linos and Puerta del Cuco. Can you locate them all in this map?

Every now and then the Internet scene is hit by some innovative applications that eventually become milestones in the history of the average net use. We can all appreciate what instant messaging, Google searching or social networking have meant to the way we behave when using the net. This 2009 will probably be remembered as the year of a new service: the instant (and mostly free) access to high-quality music by using services like Last.fm or Spotify.

The whole concept of the net as a huge and public content library had yet to be applied to copyrighted music. Listening to millions of songs streamed to your computer, mobile phone or portable Internet device is now possible. A great feature of these services is also the possibility of sharing our own-made playlists. This is what we intend to do today: letting you all know what the traditional Seville sounds like by travelling through the history of music up to the very end of the 20th century.

The presence of our city in classic composers’ works, the piano of Federico García Lorca himself, some of the greatest Copla singers, the soundtracks of our Semana Santa (Holy Week) and Feria celebrations, some pop songs and, of course, flamenco highlights - all gathered together in a journey through the passionate art that has made Seville famous around the globe.

All you need is to sign up and download Spotify (available for Mac and PC) if you still don’t have it, and then access our playlist here.

You’ll feel, at least in your ears, as if you were here - right at the perfect time to get ready for your spring visit. Enjoy!