Spain: View of Guadalquivir River, Seville

The Guadalquivir River cuts through the heart of Seville. The older part of the city is on the north bank (where the boats in this picture are docked).
In colonial times the ships that came from Spain's colonies in the Americas would arrive here, and as a result Seville was the hub of Spain's economic activity during much of this period.

Nowadays the river is too shallow for the commerce that used to characterize it, so it is more the domain of the tour boats. The large tower toward the right of the picture is called the "Torre del Oro" or Gold Tower.


See my webpage on Spain at http://www.latinandcaribbeantravel.com/spain.html

Other websites:

Caribbean Folk Arts Network (Caribfolk) - Caribbean cultural network: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/caribfolk/

Raices Culturales Latinoamericanas (Latin American Cultural Roots) - a nonprofit organization I founded in 1991 that presents Latin American cultural shows, exhibits, and workshops: http://www.raicesculturales.org/

Raicesnews - Latin cultural events in the Philadelphia area: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/raicesnews

Spain: Bullring in Ronda, 2006

This bull statue stands at the entrance to the bullring in the town of Ronda, which is regarded as the birthplace of modern bullfighting. The ring also includes a small museum with information about the development of the sport.
Bullfights take place during certain seasons depending on the location, and when I visited in late April, there were no scheduled bullfights here, as the most important events at that time were taking place in Seville. That meant that people were free to walk around the bullring, and it was inevitable that some of the visitors played matadors and bulls in the center of the ring.






If you walk along the outer ring behind the wall, you can see the places designated for the matadors, the picadors, the banderilleros, the press, and certain dignitaries. The tourists with the red shirts in the photo were part of a group from Germany.




See my webpage on Spain at http://www.latinandcaribbeantravel.com/spain.html