Puente del Alamillo
One backward-leaning tower holds the entire 200-metre span — no back-stay cables, just the tower's own mass doing the work.
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Calatrava's 1992 design for Expo '92 solved the cable-stay problem by inverting it: the inclined concrete-filled steel tower is heavy enough to counterbalance the deck on its own, making this the first bridge of its type. You can walk the elevated footway between the traffic lanes, then climb a stairway enclosed inside the tower to reach a lookout at the summit.
What to look for
- Thirteen pairs of stay cables fanning forward from the tower to the deck — look back and notice there is nothing pulling the other way
- The hexagonal steel-box spine running the full length of the bridge, its top edge raised 1.6 metres above road level as the pedestrian and cycle lane
- The tower stairway entrance: the inclined shaft is hollow, with steps climbing inside the steel-and-concrete structure all the way to the top
Walk or cycle across on the elevated central footway; the bridge spans the Canal de Alfonso XIII and deposits you on La Cartuja island, between the canal and the Guadalquivir.
Puente del Alamillo is one of 16 sights worth the detour in Seville, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Seville pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Seville
- Seville CathedralThe church that dethroned Hagia Sophia — and holds Columbus's bones.
- Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán StadiumTwo European finals and a World Cup semi-final on one pitch — more big-match history than almost any stadium in Spain.
- Royal Alcázar of SevilleA working royal palace — the Spanish royal family still occupies the upper floors when they visit Seville.
- GiraldaA 12th-century Almohad minaret wearing a Renaissance belfry — two faiths, one tower, centuries apart.
- ItalicaRome's first city in Spain — and the birthplace of two emperors — is sitting in a field outside Seville.
- Torre del OroOne anchor of a river chain that once sealed the Guadalquivir against an entire warfleet.