The plaza was built as Spain's own pavilion for the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition: a huge brick and tile crescent wrapped around a canal, with towers at each end and a bridge over the water at intervals.
⭐ Around the base runs a series of tiled alcoves, one for each province of Spain, each with a map and a historical scene. Finding your province is what most people end up doing here.
It has stood in for other places on film more than once, which is why it can feel oddly familiar before you have ever been.
⚠️ It is enormous and almost entirely unshaded. In summer this is an early-morning or evening place, not a midday one.
Our tip
Come at opening or near sunset. The brick goes orange in low light and the space is survivable.
Plaza de España, photographed
