With due respect to Copenhagen, Amsterdam has long been hailed as Europe capital of cycling, but now there’s a new kid riding on the block.
Seville.
Until recently the southern Spanish city has been an unlikely contender for the crown.
Jump back 10 years and barely anyone there owned a bike, let alone rode it.
Now, it’s a different story.
The compact city is ringed by green-painted cycleways.
Its central boulevards have been closed to all but cycle, tram and taxi traffic. And a city-wide cycle hire scheme offers 2,600 bikes from 260 docking stations.
Up to 70,000 bikes are now used daily in the city — not a huge figure, admittedly, but a giant leap from the 6,000 of a few years ago.
So is it premature to proclaim Seville’s two-wheeled triumph over Amsterdam, where 800,000 people make daily use of their cycles?
Let’s look at the evidence:
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Result: Seville takes it easily, by taking it easy.
The cycling climate
Apart from the height of summer when Seville reaches egg-frying temperatures, it’s hard to argue with 300 days of sunshine versus Amsterdam’s colder, damper weather.
Result: Seville is so hot right now.
The cycling future
With a reported $500 million national cycle budget, there’s no doubting the commitment to cycling in Amsterdam.
In Seville, despite recent advancements, the fate of cycling in the city is by no means guaranteed.
With no political consensus on cycling, Seville’s infrastructure is already crying out for more funding.
But with plans afoot to link the city to a wider network of cycle routes across Andalusia and a substantial network of cycle lanes now hardwired into the road system, it’s hard to imagine Seville backpedaling.
Result: Amsterdam’s ahead by a few bike lengths, but with the sun shining and a fair wind behind, Seville could one day ride into a clear lead.
