Washington Irving: Observations of the first tourist in Seville

Often referred to as the "first tourist in Seville", the American writer, Washington Irving, is perhaps the foreigner who most promoted the image of Spain, especially Andalucía and its colourful customs and traditions, throughout Europe and America. Arriving in Seville aboard a steamboat in the spring of 1828, Irving was fascinated by the richness and exoticism of the Hispano-Arab civilisation.

Zoom

Born in New York in 1783, the author of works such as Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle greatly admired Christopher Columbus, and while staying in Seville, he spent many hours searching through bundles of cartographic documents at the Archivo de Indias to research the history of the Spanish Empire in the Americas and the Philippines. Irving's intense studies ended with the publication of the book, Life and Journeys of Christopher Columbus.

During his twelve-month stay in Seville, he lived in a grand palatial home in Callejón de Agua, a narrow street that runs along the wall of the Alcázar in the old Jewish district. The house no longer exists, but there is a bronze plaque on the wall that records Irving's love of Spain.

However, probably his most celebrated literary offering about Spain is Tales of the Alhambra, which recounts his stay at the magnificent Nasrid palace in Granada. This book attracted a steady flow of writers and curious travellers who came in search of the mystical paradise which Irving described with his masterful narration.

His passion for Andalucía prompted destinations like Granada, Seville and Ronda to remember Irving with streets and hotels named in his honour, along with plaques recording his observations of the region. Being a tireless traveller, Irving endeavoured to experience every aspect of Andalusian life, and his journey throughout the region has been preserved in a tourist route that retraces the path between Seville and Granada he followed on horseback in 1829.