The
last thing that I could possibly have imagined when I arrived
in Seville is that I would end up writing a guidebook. At
first, my only intention was to go out and escape my everyday
routine for a while. In the beginning, I worked for Sevilla5.com
where I realised the need to organise all the information
about the city that is floating around but which can never
be found when we actually need it. From this moment onwards,
I started work out a rough project in my head. As you can
imagine, getting from this first idea to the finished result
has been a journey filled with highs and lows. Nevertheless,
even though it seemed that putting this book together was
going to be too difficult on occasions, I must recognise the
constant and non-lucrative help that I have received from
so many people.
The support has been surprising and at times unimaginable,
such as when I presented myself in the Internet cafe INTERNETIA
(Avenida Menendez y Pelayo, 46). Up until that point I had
been working with a simple and problematic laptop. I asked
the staff outright if it would be possible to use their computers
and was astonished when I received a resounding “yes”
from Pablo Carrero. He didn’t know the adventure he
was getting himself into! The patience and friendliness of
all the staff has been incredible. I can sincerely say that
I will never forget their smiles as I returned day after day
with my problems. Apart from putting up with me, they were
also kind enough to help me with the chaotic mountain of photos
that I had, scanning them for me without a second thought.
Although working with such an ethereal idea might seem a laborious
and tiring task, I have discovered that when you have the
least hope, people like Diego Diaz appear. As always it was
by mere chance that I met this fantastic person, a photographer
who made his collection of photos of Seville available to
me. Despite the little time that he had, he always found a
few minutes to guide me and even widen my photographic knowledge.
Mario Mario Krupa, a designer from Stuttgart was in Seville
for four days to help me create the layout of the guide. Guys!
What did you think, that I had forgotten you? How could I?!
Thanks
go to Clare Atkins, Daniel Collins, Edwina Williams, Laurie
Ufot and Paul Stanchfield for translating different sections
of the guide, and to Laura Cohen for completing and revising
the translation of the text in English.
Many
thanks to my family for always being there to comfort and
inspire me, to Professor Dr. Ramón Reig, Atonio Gómez
Bermejo y Leonardo Sánchez Rufo for the historical
texts about Seville, to Rubén Barroso Álvarez
for the sections on Art and Theatre, to Ismael Ebeido for
the section on Cinema, to Ahmed Sefiani for his help with
the chapters about the University and Morocco, to Claudio
Calina Varona for the text about Cordoba and to Guillermo
Alfaro Sánchez for information about Jerez de la Frontera
and Cadiz. I would also like to express my thanks to Antonio
XXXX for his help with the flamenco section, to Máximo
Carmona Palacios, Inma Guerra Cubero, Concha Laveran Lama,
David Herrera Aragón, Fafa and Felipe Ortega Regalado
for their collaboration on the Art chapter. Thanks go to José
Antonio Alonso Calzón, Rubén Rionda González,
Alfredo Girón Sopeña, and José Alberto
Ferrari Cartés for helping my life run smoothly in
Seville and for showing me the best places to eat, go out
and generally have fun. As well, thanks go to Pilar Gallego
Sánchez, Rocío Medina Morales, María
del Mar Rubio Rubio and Paula Laborda Martos.
Thanks
to Antonio Rivero Taravillo, Manuel Gregori González
Pura Llorente, Tom Strong and Kurt Grötsch for introducing
me to the art of book selling. To Javier Laínez, Lorena
Romero, Rosa Rodriguez Carcela, Blanca Gómez Dominguez,
Jesús Moreno, Carmen Steinhauer Vigo, Bianca Fleischer,
Mareike Hildebrandt, and Clöe Scott Bolton for their
generous help correcting texts, developing ideas and searching
for the most appropriate structure for the guide. Thanks to
Jeff Spielvogel with whom I had the pleasure of exchanging
information about Sevilla.
I have to thank Marc Urlichs for his valiant help and support
throughout the duration of this project.
Finally,
all of this would not have been possible without Cristina
Peralta, Isabel Lovillo, Gloria, and Anselmo Valdés
of LaMetro.fox/Equipo 28 who gave me the hope, knowledge,
support, economic and editorial resources, as well as the
final design and layout of the text and photographs, allowing
the guide to finally come to life.
|