The European Film Academy awards the Plaza de España in Seville the title “Treasure of European Film Culture”. 

Originally designed and built as the main symbol for and most ambitious project of the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition world’s fair, Plaza de España is one of Seville's most iconic locations. 

Plaza de España (picture: Fernando Ruso, Ayuntamiento de Sevilla)

With its mix of 1920s Art Deco, Neo-Renaissance, and Neo-Mudéjar styles, Plaza de España has served as the set for various films from STAR WARS to THE DICTATOR. Actors who have shot here include Vittorio de Sica, Sean Connery and, of course, Peter O’Toole.

Above all, it is forever linked to the history of cinema by its role in David Lean's unforgettable epic LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, where it served as the English army headquarters and officers' club in Cairo.  

During a ceremony in November, held in co-operation with the Andalucía Film Commission supported by the Regional Minister for Tourism and Sport, the Mayor of Sevilla and the Public Company of Radio and Television of Andalusia, a special “Treasure of European Film Culture” emblem will be inaugurated at the location. This will be on the occasion of the announcement of the nominations for the European Film Awards (EFAs), which annually takes place in Seville.

With this title the European Film Academy wishes to raise public awareness for places of a symbolic nature for European cinema, places of historical value that need to be maintained and protected not just now but also for generations to come. 

Plaza de España is the ninth location to be awarded by the European Film Academy. The first seight institutions that were adopted to be part of the “Treasures of European Film Culture” list are: 

The Eisenstein Memorial Centre in Moscow
The House of the brothers Lumière in Lyon
The Bergman Center in Faro
The World of Tonino Guerra in Pennabilli
The Potemkin Stairs in Odessa
The Vienna Giant Ferris Wheel
The Sergei Parajanov Museum in Yerevan
The Collegiate Church of Sant Vicenç in Cardona

The list of Treasures of European Film Culture will continue to be added to over the years to include both film institutions and places that can be visited such as the Plaza de España in Seville.