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Sevilla Nightlife
Sevilla is a wonderfully late-night city, and in summer and during fiestas, the streets around the central areas are often packed out until the small hours.
Flamenco in Sevilla
Flamenco music and dance is on offer at dozens of places in the city, some of them extremely tacky and expensive. Unless you've heard otherwise, avoid the fixed "shows" or tablaos (many of which are a travesty, even using recorded music). The spontaneous nature of flamenco makes it almost impossible to timetable into the two-shows-a-night cabaret demanded by impresarios. The nearest you'll get to the real thing is at Los Gallos , in the Plaza Santa Cruz, which has a professional cast. However, it is pricey (€21 including one drink), and you'd probably do just as well at El Tamboril , a renowned flamenco bar in the opposite corner of the same square. Singers and dancers aren't guaranteed to drop in (around midnight is best), but when they do, you're in for an unforgettable night.
Another excellent bar which often has spontaneous flamenco (try Mon or Thurs after 10pm) is La Carbonería , c/Levies 18, just to the northeast of the church of Santa Cruz. It used to be the coal merchant's building (hence the name) and is a large, simple and welcoming place. Quita Pesares , in the Plaza Jerónimo de Córdoba near the church of Santa Catalina, is run by a flamenco singer, and is a chaotic place where there's often impromptu music (especially at weekends) when things get lively around midnight. A couple more places to try are Café Lisboa , c/Alhondiga 43, near the church of Santa Catalina, which stages flamenco nights on Thursdays with free entry, and Salamandra , c/Torneo 49, near the east bank of the river, which puts on flamenco on Saturday nights after 10pm.
Bars in Sevilla
For straight drinking and occasional tapas you can be much less selective. There are bars all over town - a high concentration of them with barrelled sherries from nearby Jerez and Sanlúcar (the locals drink the cold, dry fino with their tapas, especially shrimp); a tinto de verano is the local version of sangría - wine with lemonade, a great summer drink. Outside the centre, you'll find lively bars in the Plaza Alfafa area, and across the river in Triana - particularly in c/Castilla, c/Betis, and in and around c/Salado. A new zone that has emerged as a focus for artistic, student and gay barhoppers is the Alameda (de Hércules).
In summer much of the action emigrates to the bars along the river's east bank to the north of the Triana bridge as far as the spectacular Puente de la Barqueta, built for Expo '92. Many of these open for a season only, springing up the following year under a new name and ownership.
The gay scene has a cluster of bars on the city side of the Puente de Triana, where Isbiliyya, Tocame and other bars get lively around midnight.
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Spanish in Sevilla
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