From the best vegan restaurant to the book shop where he fell in love with writing, football’s favourite fashionista plots the seven locations that make his new place of residence feel like home.

A fashion fanatic and brand owner, environmental activist, avid reader and aspiring writer – Héctor Bellerín is far from your average sportsman. The 30-year-old footballer certainly isn’t short of a pastime or two off the pitch when he’s not cultivating a decorated career on it. He spent a trophy-laden decade at Arsenal in London – a city he remembers “with a full heart,” before a swift “learning experience” back in his home city of Barcelona, an academy he joined as a boy.

However, in 2021, he headed south, relocating full-time in 2023 to Real Betis – his dad’s favourite club – and embracing a new flow of life in Seville. The capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia is known for its liberal nature, rich tapestry of architectural styles and enviable climate. It’s the place he’s both found his people and added further to his ever-growing list of passions, becoming not just a professional pitstop for Bellerín, but home, too.“Everyone just kind of knows each other,” he tells Man About Town fondly. “There’s something very beautiful in that. When I came to Seville and I signed a long-term contract, my purpose was to build a community, friends outside of football. I’ve been very lucky to find people who have become that.” 

“Work of art” Seville feels more like a town than a city, he feels. Its locals are “very open and love to celebrate. Seville is a city where its people are key players in the experience. If you take that away, then there’s nothing.” Purported to receive almost 3,000 hours of sunlight per year, Bellerín is basking in the city’s glory. It’s where he feels present today and even envisages his post-game future, revealing hopes to retire here one day. He might just be The Beautiful Game’s chief arbiter on style and taste, so as he takes Man About Town on a tour of his favourite local spots, it feels prudent to hang on his every word. 

Cine Cervantes [37° 23.7490′ N 5° 59.6706′ W]

Héctor Bellerín: It was a theatre before it was repurposed [as a cinema] four years ago. The architecture and the energy in that place… even the smell. You feel like you’re transported to a different time. It has these red velvet curtains and red velvet seats. There’s only one screen, and I’m not a fan of Hollywood films, so most of the time I watch something there, it’s more that I just want to sit in that place for an hour and a half and feel as if it was 150 years ago. Today I think it’s probably one of the best spots in Spain to watch a movie.

Antro Vintage [37° 23.8706′ N 5° 59.5009′ W]

HB: There’s a market called El Jueves, which means Thursday in Spanish, and it’s the oldest street market in Europe. On that same road, loads of antique and vintage stores have opened over the years. It’s kind of like Brick Lane or how Camden used to be. Antro is probably the menswear vintage shop which has the best curation of clothes. I know that when I go there, I’ll probably leave with a bag in my hand.

Vegan Rock [37° 23.7839′ N 5° 59.6435′ W]

HB: Vegan Rock was actually the first restaurant I went to when I moved to Seville. I have this app on my phone called HappyCow that, if you’re vegan or vegetarian, tells you what restaurants are around. When I first went, David, the owner, was so polite and kind and didn’t make me feel at any time that he knew me. Later, someone told me, ‘You probably don’t know, but this guy goes to every [Real] Betis game, home and away.’ He’s since shown me pictures of him going to Liverpool to watch Betis in 2005. We became really good friends. Now he’s moved his restaurant to this northern area of Seville, where he can run his business with more stability. The concept of the restaurant is having Andalusian tapas, but vegan, and the guy is such a master at that. It’s just become a cultural pillar for a certain group of people here in Seville. When you go to Vegan Rock, you’re probably going to see someone that you know. It’s not just about having some vegan food, which is pretty hard to find in Seville, but it’s the whole experience, seeing David, seeing people you know, eating good food.

La Taberna del Pintor [37° 23.6102′ N 5° 59.0767′ W]

HB: This is a very old tavern that hasn’t been touched by anything outside. So many bars now go for this thing where it’s newly open, but they try to make it look old, and go for this vintage vibe, trying to recreate something. But these walls speak. You know when you walk into a place and it feels like it’s been untouched for 50 years? La Taberna del Pintor is like that. It’s become the bar where I go with my group of friends from my writing workshop. The library we’re going to talk about is next to this tavern, and every Tuesday after a workshop we always go to this place. It’s got really old paintings, and all the walls are signed by people who have been there. It gives you a good picture of what Seville used to be. It’s a museum in a way. 

Casa Tomada [37° 23.5724′ N 5° 59.0929′ W]

HB: I love reading. It’s become a passion over the past few years. I remember I was in therapy, having a conversation about all the things that I do. I play football, and I have my fashion brand [Gospel Estudios], and my therapist asked me, ‘What would you do if you did none of that?’ And I said, ‘I don’t know, probably writing because I love reading and I feel like every time I’ve written a diary, there’s an intuition for it and for wanting to write well.’ So when we had that conversation, everything just stayed in the back of my mind. And then the day after, I went to this bookshop/library in my area. Two people stopped me for a picture, and they said, ‘Oh, we go to a workshop here and we’re about to start. You should come. It’s creative writing, we write short stories.’ And then, Laura, who is now my teacher, said to me, ‘Oh, you cannot go to the group because it’s full, but next Tuesday I’m starting a new one. And it’s an entry-level kind of thing.’ And I said,‘Surely this is the world telling me that I need to write?’ So I went, and it was such a great experience. I went to the [beginner’s] course for about a year, and then last year I started on the advanced. In this one, we have a really good group of people who go every Tuesday. We feel like we know each other because of what we write, aside from actually knowing each other on a personal level. Writing is such a personal thing. You can write a story about something that has nothing to do with you, but there’s still so much of you in it.

 La Casa Tomada does so much for the community, they’re always helping people that live in areas on the outskirts of Seville that have lower resources, seeing how they can come to do the workshops, creating activities with collectives around the city and doing talks, book presentations and making literature accessible to every single person around the city. They’re very conscious of how literature can change lives.

Orangerie Plants [37° 23.9407′ N 5° 59.5716′ W]

HB: This flower shop is one of the coolest spots in Seville. It almost feels out of place in Seville, like something that should be in Paris. But at the same time, it brings so much to the city. The owners work with fashion magazines and do lots of events for top awards and dress people with flowers. It’s really cool that they can do that in Seville – be a big part of the community and still have a great flower shop. Almost all my plants are from there. 

Hospital de los Venerables [37° 23.1126′ N 5° 59.3935′ W]

HB: It used to be a hospital for priests. They have a church inside where all the walls are painted, a fresco painting. It’s such a cool spot to understand the story of Seville. It’s an underground, low-key spot that is not recognised as it should be, but for me it’s one of the most beautiful in Seville. The chapel is pretty small, but the way it’s painted and the energy it has, you could stay there for an hour just looking around. It’s also not far from my house, so every time I have friends over who have never been to Seville, I try to do a tour and walk around the place. It’s in an area called Barrio de Santa Cruz, which is the Jewish quarter here in Seville. All the streets are very tiny, and it’s like a maze. Even if it’s very sunny over there, it’s really dark and it’s not as warm. It’s such an amazing place to just walk around.