Capital: Seville
Population: 8.6 million (approx., 2024)
Andalusia highlighted within Spain.
Andalusia is Spain turned up to full volume — eight provinces running from the Sierra Nevada's snow-capped peaks down to the Costa del Sol's beaches, with the Guadalquivir valley's olive groves and vast wheat plains in between. This is the Spain most of the world pictures first: flamenco was born in its gitano neighbourhoods, bullfighting still runs deep in its towns, and eight centuries of Moorish rule left behind the Alhambra in Granada and the Mezquita in Córdoba — some of the most extraordinary architecture in Europe, sitting a few streets from tapas bars and orange-tree-lined plazas.
It's also the Spain of emigration. Andalusian families left in huge numbers across the 20th century — to Catalonia and Madrid, to Germany and Switzerland, to Argentina and beyond — so if your roots trace back here, you're part of one of Spain's largest diaspora stories. Seville, the regional capital, hosts two of the country's most famous festivals: Semana Santa's silent, candlelit processions each spring, and the Feria de Abril's week of flamenco dresses, sherry and all-night dancing that follows soon after.
Click a province for its local news and what's on (province sub-pages to follow).