Longstanding artisan workshops in Seville’s historic corralones face growing pressure as property developers step up efforts to convert the spaces into hotels and tourist apartments. In recent months, tenants in the corralones of Calle Castellar have reported escalating harassment, including physical aggression and intimidation by a desokupas company. The building’s owners are seeking to clear the premises for a new hotel and 35 apartments. The conflict has reignited debate over the future of these creative hubs, which have shaped the city’s cultural and economic identity for decades.
The dispute is unfolding amid a tourism boom that is drawing greater commercial interest to basic properties. Seville province received 5,999,929 tourists in 2025, up 6.3% year on year. Tourist apartments recorded increases of 15.3% in travellers and 13.7% in overnight stays, information from an economic report cited by Europa Press. The report also put provincial employment at 831,300 people. These figures describe the wider tourism economy; they do not measure the contribution of artisan workshops or establish the cause of any particular tenant’s displacement.
Artisans and creators argue that the corralones are the last bastion of authentic local productivity in Seville’s historic centre. They warn that unchecked gentrification and speculative tourism threaten their livelihoods and the character of entire neighbourhoods. Many point to the collaborative spirit of these spaces, where people working in music and design share space with blacksmiths and sculptors. Gervasio Iglesias, founder of Zanfoña Producciones, recalls how the corralones fostered creative projects such as the casting for the film 7 Vírgenes. He insists that these environments deserve full protection from demolition or commercial conversion.
Despite the departure of some basic figures, the corralones of Plaza del Pelícano and Pasaje Mallol continue to host a varied mix of trades. German blacksmith Alex Richter, the last forja craftsman in Seville, has worked there for over 25 years, collaborating with younger artisans such as Iván Torrado and Alberto Pozo, who build religious floats for local brotherhoods. The connected workshops span carpentry and sculpture, as well as bicycle repair and flamenco dance. Artisans say this environment cannot be replicated in isolated studios or commercial premises on the city’s outskirts.
Pressure on these spaces has grown. After Garaje Santa Inés acquired the corralones of Castellar in 2006, tenants saw rents more than double while maintenance declined, prompting many to leave. The situation escalated in 2023, when a €12 million sale to developer Arenas de la Bellida required the property to be vacated by June. Reports of violent evictions and ongoing intimidation have left remaining tenants feeling vulnerable. Richter describes a climate of constant threat and warns that prioritising tourism over local industry risks undermining the city’s foundations.
The wider accommodation market helps explain that pressure. Diario de Sevilla, citing regional and municipal figures, reported approximately 9,545 to 9,562 registered tourist apartments or tourist-use homes in the city, depending on the registry and counting method. It also reported around 46,292 tourist-apartment places, compared with 22,959 hotel places. Seville’s municipal rules for tourist-use homes took effect on 29 October 2024 and limit them to 10% of the housing stock in the historic centre and Triana. The restriction applies to that category, while tourist-apartment establishments, regulated at regional level, include buildings, complexes and “conjuntos.” The distinction matters in redevelopment debates because different accommodation categories operate under different rules.
Some corralones have already been converted into apartments, while others, including those in Pasaje Mallol, have become cultural landmarks. They hosted early rehearsals by bands such as Califato 3/4 and Pony Bravo. Yet uncertainty hangs over their future. Artisans such as Laura Ochoa say rising rents have forced many out of the neighbourhood and fear that if one corralón falls, others will follow. The lack of secure, long-term leases leaves many reluctant to speak publicly, a sign of how precarious their situation has become. Cadena SER Radio Sevilla has reported that registered tourist accommodation in the city reached 57,617 places after an increase of 2,225, as housing pressure becomes part of a broader social debate.
Efforts to protect these spaces have a long history. Two decades ago, local residents and the Plataforma de Artesanos y Artesanas del Casco Antiguo (PACA) successfully opposed urban planning changes that would have erased artisan activity from the area. The Junta de Andalucía once pledged to expropriate and safeguard the corralones, but the economic crisis stalled those plans. Today, only a few protected spaces remain, including Rompemoldes in San Julián, where the municipal housing company Emvisesa rents workshops and living spaces to artisans. Pablo Fernández, a luthier based there since 2012, acknowledges the relative security this arrangement provides, but says it depends on shifting political priorities.
Calls for greater municipal and regional support continue. Artisans argue that the city’s focus on high-profile events such as Feria and Semana Santa overlooks the value of local creative industries. They say the collaborative networks formed in the corralones also strengthen neighbourhood solidarity, now at risk as digital nomads and short-term residents replace long-term locals. Richter and Ochoa warn that losing the corralones would also mean losing the businesses and social fabric that make the area distinctive. In the wider housing-policy debate, the PSOE in Seville has urged Mayor José Luis Sanz to seek designation of a “zona de mercado residencial tensionado.” It has also proposed mobilising vacant homes through Emvisesa and permanently protecting public housing, alongside creating a municipal tenant-support office. These are political proposals, not measures already in force.
Similar tensions between local communities and urban development have surfaced in other Spanish cities. In Madrid, for example, a fire at La Vaguada shopping centre led to a major evacuation after a man expelled for theft triggered the incident. The episode highlighted the impact of rapid commercial changes on established neighbourhoods. Details are available in this report on the La Vaguada evacuation.
Seville’s corralones represent a living heritage of industrial and artistic collaboration. Their fate now hinges on whether authorities will intervene to protect them from speculation and mass tourism. Without decisive action, the city risks losing its creative heart and the authentic neighbourhood life that has defined it for generations.
