Seville City Council has completed the installation of a new model of streetlights in the Los Remedios district, inspired by the arches of the San Telmo Bridge. This initiative, which began in 2024, is part of a public lighting renewal plan aimed at harmonising aesthetics and history.
The Los Remedios neighbourhood now showcases its new 'santelminas' streetlights, an exclusive model that evokes the silhouette of the San Telmo Bridge. The installation, which started in early 2024, has recently been completed on streets such as Juan Sebastián Elcano, where residents can now enjoy lighting with its own character.
The Urban Planning delegate, Juan de la Rosa, confirmed that the luminaires have been "specifically designed for their streets" with a unique aesthetic "inspired by the San Telmo Bridge". The idea, as he explained, is to "not limit actions to the Old Town, but to extend the idea of identity and beauty to other neighbourhoods."
A design born from community participation
The choice of model was not improvised. The City Council conducted a survey among residents to understand their preferences and subsequently installed a sample display on the corner of Niebla and Virgen de África streets, next to the Polytechnic School. Three prototypes were showcased there; the winner was the one that incorporated a recreation of the semi-circular arches of the San Telmo Bridge, an emblem of the neighbourhood.
This commitment to participation contrasts with the strategy followed in the city centre, where fernandinas streetlights were chosen directly. In total, 804 streetlights have been installed in 68 streets in the centre, such as Sierpes, Sagasta, Cuna, or Feria, replacing the old road-type luminaires.
A philosophy of urban intervention with a local stamp
The municipal government asserts that these actions respond to a "philosophy of urban intervention that seeks to harmonise aesthetics, functionality, and history." According to municipal sources, "Seville is a city with a very high heritage value, whose urban environments have often been altered by functional, hasty, or contextually alien decisions."
Therefore, the lighting renewal policy is oriented towards "the revaluation of the local, with designs integrated into the environment, durable materials, and an aesthetic that does not impose but rather dialogues with the existing." Residents of Los Remedios, who for years coexisted with road-type streetlights typical of a motorway, now stroll under lights that remind them of the bridge that names their neighbourhood.
The initiative in Los Remedios is just one part of the overall plan for modernising public lighting in Seville. The City Council plans to extend this type of intervention to other districts, always with designs adapted to the identity of each area. For now, the residents of Los Remedios already have their own luminous identity: the 'santelminas'.
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