José Luis Sanz, the mayor of the popular tourist destination Seville in the Anadalusia autonomous community of Spain, stated on Wednesday that he has already “decided to enclose” the space of the monumental Plaza de Espana and charge “between three and four euros” (as much as £3.36) for visits by tourists.
The money collected will go towards paying for “24-hour surveillance” in the enclosure and permanent conservation work.
In an interview on Cadena Cope, Sanz has again defended his proposal to close the complex – the open-air space between the balustrade of access and the benches of the provinces – and charge an entrance fee to tourists. Those who can prove that they live in the city or were born in the province – and can prove it – won’t be asked to pay the new fee.
The City Council, the owner of the space, made a similar proposal several months ago.
The revenues would be distributed, the local PP government said, with 75 percent of the total to be allocated to the municipal coffers and 25 percent to be destined to the state, guaranteeing free public access to the state offices of the complex. These offices house the headquarters of the Government Delegation in Andalusia, the Subdelegation, Migration Services, the Hydrographic Confederation of the Guadalquivir (CHG) and the Army’s Land Force Headquarters.
Alongside the surveillance service, the plan is also to open a permanent restoration school or workshop for this emblematic monument of Seville, protected as an Asset of Cultural Interest, which is currently fully accessible to the public.
The central government, formed by the PSEO and Sumar, however, flatly rejected the proposal, warning that it is a “privatisation” of public space.
Mr Sanz claimed on Wednesday that the central government, beyond rejecting the idea, had not provided any economic “alternative” to pay for 24-hour surveillance of the monument and permanent restoration work. He stated that, as mayor, he had already “decided” to implement “a ticket” for access to the square space belonging to the Town Hall.
Mr Sanz said: “I want to charge a fee to those who visit the square space. The building is another story”. He assured that the Town Hall can “enclose” the space in the square that belongs to it, something he hopes to do when he has a “defined project”, which he said is already being drawn up.
He recalled that the accesses to the Plaza de Espana already have “two lateral closures” on the Avenida de Isabel la Catolica, to which the monument opens, so that “it would only be necessary to close it at the front”, with an installation that “already exists” but requires completion.
Additionally, having recently stated that in 2025 – after the next edition of the Iconica music festival that is held every summer in the Plaza de Espana – he would open “the debate on the continuity or not” of the event, Mr Sanz showed on Wednesday that he is “in favour” of the local citizens enjoying “this unique space”.
“I see it as a good thing that this type of activity is organised in the Plaza de Espana”, he said, stressing that the festival is “under the inspection of the Town Planning technicians”.
He also defended that the Plaza de España is an “ideal” enclave for the “great museum space” which, in his opinion, the city needs, once again asking whether “it makes sense” for the monument to house state offices because, from his point of view, “it only makes sense” to keep the Captaincy General’s Office, the headquarters of the Army’s Land Force, in the monument, in terms of administrative offices.
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