Tourists must pay to visit Spain’s iconic Plaza de España after rampant destruction

The mayor strikes back.

Visitors to the southern Spanish city of Seville may soon have to cough up a fee to see one of the country’s most popular landmarks — and iconic movie locations — thanks to rampant and destructive overtourism.

The once-ornate Plaza de España square, a sprawling public space, is falling apart and is swarmed with illegal vendors who take over the stairs, according to Mayor Jose Luis Sanz.

“We are planning to close the Plaza de España and charge tourists to finance its conservation and ensure its safety,” the fed-up politician said Monday on X.

Luis Sanza shared a video of chipped tiles in a mosaic wall and missing columns attached to adorned railings, as well as screens holding together a wall where ceramic had once been.

An overload of tourism in the public space is to blame for “what Plaza de España looks like at this time,” he argued.

Thousands of people from all over the world visit the Plaza de España daily to enjoy the near-constant concerts, plays and fashion shows, or to simply take in its beauty.

The 164,000-square-foot plaza was constructed as part of a complex built for the 1929 Ibero-American Exhibition and famously served as the set of the 1999 film “The Phantom Menace” of the Star Wars franchise.

The incredibly detailed space — which includes a semicircular Neo-Moorish palatial structure framed with tall towers on both ends and four bridges over a 1,680-foot-long canal — went under intense restoration between 2007 and 2010, a feat that cost the city almost 11 million dollars.

“With the City Council’s budget alone we cannot preserve our heritage, nor guarantee the safety of the monument,” Luis Sanz wrote.

Luis Sanz did not reveal how much the tourist fee would cost, but promised it would not impact Sevillians.

Although the space would still be free to them, many locals took to social media to blast the decision.

“A tourism tax for ALL visitors provokes less debate and generates more income. Listen to the people, not the hoteliers,” wrote one user.

Another added: “What people want from you is a tourism tax and general regulation of mass tourism which is destroying our city”.

With more than three million tourists a year and a population of 700,000, Seville is the third most visited city in Spain, which in turn is one of the world’s most visited countries.

If the fee goes into effect, the Plaza de España would join other popular landmarks that charge tourists for each visit, including the Eiffel Tower, the Great Wall of China and New York’s Empire State Building.

With Post Wires