Editing Seville (section)

=== Recent developments ===
On 3 April 1979 Spain held its first democratic municipal elections after the end of Franco's dictatorship; councillors representing four different political parties were elected in Seville. On 5 November 1982, [[Pope John Paul II]] arrived in Seville to officiate at a Mass before more than half a million people at the fairgrounds. He visited the city again on 13 June 1993, for the International Eucharistic Congress.

[[File:Expo Sevilla002.jpg|thumb|European Union pavilion of the [[Seville Expo '92|1992 Universal Exposition]] as it was at the time.]]
In 1992, coinciding with the fifth centenary of the [[Voyages of Christopher Columbus|Discovery of the Americas]], the [[Seville Expo '92|Universal Exposition]] was held for six months in Seville, on the occasion of which the local communications network and urban infrastructure was greatly improved under a 1987 [[PGOU]] plan launched by Mayor [[Manuel del Valle]]:<ref name=abc>{{cite news |title=Muere Manuel del Valle, el exalcalde de Sevilla que rediseñó la ciudad |url=https://sevilla.abc.es/sevilla/sevi-muere-manuel-valle-exalcalde-sevilla-rediseno-ciudad-202003262158_noticia.html |work=[[ABC (newspaper)|ABC]] |date=27 March 2020 |access-date=14 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200414030349/https://sevilla.abc.es/sevilla/sevi-muere-manuel-valle-exalcalde-sevilla-rediseno-ciudad-202003262158_noticia.html |archive-date=14 April 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> the SE-30 ring road around the city was completed and new highways were constructed; the new [[Seville-Santa Justa railway station]] had opened in 1991, while the Spanish High-Speed Rail system, the ''[[Alta Velocidad Española]]'' (AVE), began to operate between Madrid-Seville. The [[Seville Airport]] was expanded with a new terminal building designed by the architect [[Rafael Moneo]], and various other improvements were made. The [[Puente del Alamillo|Alamillo Bridge]] and the [[Centenario Bridge]], both crossing over the Guadalquivir, also were built for the occasion. Some of the installations remaining at the site after the exposition were converted into the Scientific and Technological Park [[Cartuja 93]].

In 2004 the Metropol Parasol project, commonly known as ''Las Setas'' ('The Mushrooms'), due to the appearance of the structure, was launched to revitalise the ''Plaza de la Encarnación'', for years used as a car park and seen as a dead spot between more popular tourist destinations in the city. The Metropol Parasol was completed in March 2011,<ref>{{cite news|author=Rowan Moore |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/mar/27/metropol-parasol-seville-mayer-review |title=Metropol Parasol, Seville by Jürgen Mayer H – review &#124; Art and design |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=24 November 2016}}</ref> costing just over €102&nbsp;million in total, more than twice as much as originally planned.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sevilla.abc.es/20120508/sevilla/sevi-factura-final-setas-millones-201205072258.html|title=La factura final de las "setas" es de 102 millones, el doble de lo presupuestado|last=barba|first=eduardo|website=ABC de Sevilla|access-date=2 March 2016|date=7 May 2012}}</ref> Constructed from crossed wooden beams, ''Las Setas'' is said to be the largest timber-framed structure in the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.andalucia.com/cities/seville/metropol-parasol.htm|title=Metropol Parasol Urban Project in Seville|website=Andalucia.com|date=6 December 2011|access-date=2 March 2016}}</ref>

{{wide image|Espacio_Parasol_Sevilla.jpg|800px|''[[Metropol Parasol]]'', locally also known as ''Las Setas,'' by the German architect [[Jürgen Mayer]]}}