Sevilla's Skies Through a Lens: Air Quality and My Aching Sinuses
so yeah. as a freelance photographer who's lived here for 18 months, i've got 47,324 photos of this city and a prescription for allergy pills that costs more than my first camera. sevilla's got this weird dual personality: postcard-perfect plazas and air that sometimes smells like someone's frying bad decisions in motor oil.
the other day i shot a wedding near the torre del oro. groom's suit was pristine until we walked past the riverbank - boom, pollen bomb. his nose turned into a faucet. this city's air quality is basically a lottery ticket: sometimes you win clear skies, other times you're breathing the ghost of every fiesta firework ever lit.
*the real talk
safety? honestly? safer than my last brooklyn apartment. just don't flash cash at triana market after midnight. rent? my 45m² flat near macarena costs €750/month, which is basically highway robbery for this closet-sized space. job market? if you speak english and can smile through service industry hell, you're set. found some gigs here but competition's fierce.
right now? the weather's doing that thing where it slaps you with 30°C heat at 9am but feels like breathing wet wool because of the humidity. driving to cordoba for cooler air? 90 minutes. escaping to cadiz's beaches? 2 hours. cheaper than therapy, honestly.
overheard whispers
> "dude, i swear the air here is like breathing soup when the oranges are blooming and the buses are all lined up. my camera lens got foggy just from walking two blocks." - overheard at a bar in triana
> "a local told me to avoid the avenida de la constitución on tuesdays because they clean the streets with this... chemical spray? makes my eyes water." - something a street artist muttered while tagging a wall
pro-tips from my lens*
- shoot early mornings before the city wakes up and starts exhaling fumes
- pack a lens cloth - that orange pollen is basically glitter glue for your gear
- check air quality before heading out - if it's over 150, maybe skip the alameda park shoot
> "they say the air quality index spikes during semana santa because of all the incense and the parade traffic. my asthma's been acting up, and i'm not even the one carrying the floats." - from a friend at a yoga class who now does breathing exercises in her apartment
found some decent air purifiers at this shop, but honestly? nothing beats escaping to parque de maría luisa and pretending the river's breeze is actually clean.
so yeah, sevilla's got beauty that'll make your jaw drop, but bring your inhaler. and maybe a gas mask if you're shooting near the bus station. here's where the tourists get fooled - they'll tell you it's all sunshine and tapas. they liiiiie.
You might also be interested in:
- https://topiclo.com/post/sustainability-in-seluklu-how-green-is-this-urban-space
- https://topiclo.com/post/demographics-of-bujumbura-who-lives-here-in-2026
- https://topiclo.com/post/taichung-with-a-mutt-yeah-okay-heres-the-real-scoop
- https://topiclo.com/post/odessas-got-that-weird-mix-of-grand-and-gritty
- https://topiclo.com/post/tokyo-where-the-wifi-is-fast-but-the-heart-is-cold