A REFERENDUM is to be held into Sevilla’s Feria de Abril after three MILLION people attended this year’s festivities, bringing in €6bn  This year’s feria has outshone 2022’s two million, with over 1,070,962 more attendees.  On Sunday, Sevilla mayor, Jose Luis Sanz called the event an ‘economic force’ that the city must ‘protect’. Now, Sevillanos will get to decide how the feria works next year in a referendum taking place from Monday, April 22 at 9:00am to Thursday, April 25, at 08:00pm. READ MORE: ‘I went to the first weekend of the Feria de Abril in Sevilla – THESE are ..read more

GOING to the Feria de Abril in Sevilla can be a daunting task.  The week-long festival in the capital of Andalucia is part of a tradition that dates back to 1846.  However the event continues to grow in size each year and travelling to and from the site has become somewhat of a nightmare – so there are a few things you should know to make the experience as stress-free as possible.  Each year, the festivities begin on a Saturday in April with what is called the ‘pescaito’.  READ MORE: Travel chaos at the Feria de Abril in Sevilla: €150 ..read more

ANIMAL activists are outraged after a horse suffered a heart attack and died due to 28C heat at the Feria de Abril in Sevilla.  The first day of Sevilla’s famous feria has seen a ‘perfectly healthy’ horse die of a heart attack.  It was taking part in the paseo de caballos, a parade of horses.  The exact cause of the heart attack is unknown. Various onlookers tried to help the animal, which fell near the junction of Juan Belmonte and calle Chicuelo.  Nonetheless, the horse passed away and its body was removed by council services.  The Feria de Abril has ..read more

SEVILLE is finally set to expand its metro after 14 years of delays and planning, it has been announced. The capital city of Andalucia will begin works on extending Line 3 of the metro to Pino Montano on April 8, Junta President Juanma Moreno revealed yesterday. Pino Montano is a popular neighbourhood that lies east of the city centre. The works will see the creation of three new stations: Pino Montano Norte, Pino Montano and Los Mares. It is just one of three sections of Line 3 that are planned to be completed, although no date has been set in ..read more

A US expat has revealed why she and other Americans love living in Spain – and the reasons are aplenty. Emily Woerfel has been living in Seville for more than 14 years, where she currently resides with her husband and son. She runs her popular ‘Emily in Seville’ Instagram page, which updates her more than 24,000 followers on all things living in Spain. In one of her most viral videos, first uploaded last year but reshared last week, Emily lists the reasons why Americans love living in the country. She begins the clip by listing the obvious appeals, such as ..read more

UKRAINIAN pilots who imported drugs from Morocco to Spain on helicopters have been busted by the Guardia Civil and the Royal Moroccan Gendarmerie. READ MORE: Family clan who ‘sold drugs delivered by narco boats’ on Spain’s Costa Blanca is arrested Nine people have been arrested in Andalucia including two elite Ukrainian pilots who are experts in nighttime and low-altitude flights, and who were paid at least €150,000 per trip.  Both helicopters – worth €900,000 each on the black market – have been seized along with 795 kilos of hashish. Operation Torcal 469 Tornado began in mid-2023 after ..read more

SEVILLA has become the first municipality in Andalucia to apply a new regional law to strictly control the amount of properties that can be used for tourist lets. The Junta’s decree is about regulating tourist housing in the most over-saturated areas of the region. The Andalucian Council of Colleges of Property Administrators (CAFINCAS) has welcomed the Sevilla City Council decision. CAFINCAS president, Jose Feria, said: “This is responding to something that residents have been wanting for years and a first step to solve the problems of coexistence and gentrification that have appeared in some ..read more

SCIENTISTS in Spain believe olives may hold the key to treating diabetes and Alzheimer’s.  Specifically, it is the leaves of olive trees which could prove vital thanks to their very high levels of oleanolic acid. It comes after a 2019 Prediabole Study found that consuming olive oil rich in oleanolic acid prevented the development of type 2 diabetes.  After three years of intake, patients were found to have a 45% lower chance of developing the condition than those who did not take the oil.  Experts at the FAT Institute in Sevilla, Andalucia, now want to test whether the oil can ..read more

A REMARKABLE tome by a British writer and painter on Spain’s wealth of incredible cathedrals was released 115 years ago this month. Cathedral Cities of Spain was the culmination of a months-long voyage around Spain by London-born watercolourist WW Collins (1862-1951). A prolific author most famous for his fiction work, including 27 novels, 60 short stories, 14 plays and over 100 works of non-fiction, his homage to Spain’s city life and religious architecture sometimes gets overlooked. The book serves as a bridge between the modern Spain that we know today and its grand, imperial past, long con ..read more

A CRIMINAL gang importing drugs from Morocco to Spain on two helicopters has been busted by the Guardia Civil and the Royal Moroccan Gendarmerie. Nine people have been arrested in Andalucia including two pilots who are experts in night and low-altitude flights. Both helicopters-worth €900,000 each on the black market- have been seized along with 795 kilos of hashish. Operation Torcal 469 Tornado began in mid-2023 after authorities discovered that the gang was looking for pilots to carry out drug flights between Spain and Morocco. After several months of investigations, Guardia officers found t ..read more