The Universal Exhibition of Seville 1992 – Expo '92 (officially: ) was a

universal exhibition A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...

held from Monday 20 April to Monday 12 October 1992, at the , in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

, Spain. The theme for the expo was "The Age of Discoveries", celebrating the 500th anniversary of

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

reaching the Americas, and over 100 countries were represented. The site of the exposition covered and the total number of visitors was 41,814,571. The exposition ran at the same time as the smaller and shorter-duration

Genoa Expo '92 L'Esposizione Internazionale Specializzata Genova '92 - Colombo '92 (in English ''International Exhibition Genoa '92 - Colombo '92'') or more informally Expo 1992, was held in Genoa, Italy from 15 May to 15 August 1992. The theme was "Christopher ...

, a Specialized Exhibition, held in memory of Christopher Columbus in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. After the exhibition, the site was divided between the Cartuja Science and Technology Park, which uses many of the pavilions and structures built for the fair, and the grounds where the theme park and the water park were later built. Administrative services and city facilities have also moved to some of the buildings and plots left by the fair.

Organisation

Expo '92 was organised to celebrate the 500th anniversary (1492–1992) of

reaching the Americas. The exhibition was to be jointly held with the City of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, however, due to national, state, and local funding difficulties, the

Chicago 1992 World's Fair The Chicago 1992 World's Fair was planned to be held in Chicago as the first World's Fair to take place in the United States since the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition in New Orleans. The Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) approved Chicago ...

was ultimately cancelled. The Commissioner-General of Expo '92 was

Manuel Olivencia Manuel Olivencia Ruiz (25 July 1929 – 1 January 2018) was a Spanish lawyer with a career as a professor, economist, and diplomat. He worked at the University of Seville and organized Seville Expo '92. Early life Olivencia was born in Ronda, P ...

New infrastructures

Important public infrastructures were built for the exhibition. The

Madrid–Seville high-speed rail line The Madrid–Sevilla high-speed line (NAFA or ''Nuevo Acceso Ferroviario a Andalucía'') is a Spanish railway line for high-speed traffic between Madrid and Seville. The first Spanish high-speed rail connection has been in use since 21 April 1 ...

was built as the first high-speed rail line in Spain, with commercial

AVE is a Latin word, used by the Roman Empire, Romans as a salutation (greeting), salutation and greeting, meaning 'wikt:hail, hail'. It is the singular imperative mood, imperative form of the verb , which meant 'Well-being, to be well'; thus on ...

service by

Renfe Renfe (, ), officially Renfe-Operadora, is Spain's national state-owned railway company. It was created in 2005 upon the split of the former Spanish National Railway Network (RENFE) into the Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias ( ...

beginning on 21 April 1992 between

Madrid Atocha Madrid Atocha (), also named Madrid Puerta de Atocha–Almudena Grandes, is the oldest major railway station in Madrid. It is the largest station serving commuter trains ( ''Cercanías''), regional trains from the south and southeast, intercity ...

and the new Seville–Santa Justa stations, with stops in

Ciudad Real Ciudad Real (, ) is a municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha, capital of the province of Ciudad Real. It is the 5th most populated municipality in the region. It was founded as Villa Real in 1255 as a ro ...

, Puertollano,

Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, the second largest city in Argentina and the capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cord ...

, and the exhibition site itself.

Seville Airport Seville Airport () is the sixth busiest inland airport in Spain. It is the main international airport serving Western Andalusia in southern Spain, and neighbouring provinces. The airport has flight connections to 20 destinations in Spain and 57 ...

was renovated and expanded and the new

Plaza de Armas ''Plaza de armas'' (pl. ; literally ''arms square'' or ''place-of-arms'') is a Spanish language, Spanish term commonly used to refer to town square, town squares in Latin America, Spain and the Philippines, as well as a name commonly given to th ...

intercity bus station was inaugurated on 31 March 1992. The SE-30 highway was built as a ring road around Seville, including the

Centenario Bridge The Centenario Bridge (Spanish: ''Puente del Centenario'') is a cable-stayed bridge in Seville, Spain. It crosses over the left branch of Guadalquivir. History and description Programmed as part of the infrastructures for the Expo '92, buildin ...

, and was inaugurated on 15 November 1991. Five more new bridges were built over the

Guadalquivir The Guadalquivir (, also , , ) is the fifth-longest river in the Iberian Peninsula and the second-longest river with its entire length in Spain. The Guadalquivir is the only major navigable river in Spain. Currently it is navigable from Seville ...

river: Alamillo, Barqueta, Cartuja, Cristo de la Expiración, and Delicias. A whole neighbourhood was developed in

Mairena del Aljarafe Mairena del Aljarafe () is a municipality in the province of Seville, Spain. In 2009, it had a population of 40,700 inhabitants. Its superficial extension is 17,7 km2 (6.83 sq. mi.) and has a population density of 2,470.23 inhabitants/km2 No ...

to house the participants of the fair.

Site

Expo '92 was known for its massive site covering of the , a place of reference for Columbus for his voyage to the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

, and required at least several days to visit most of the pavilions. It was also known for its numerous spectacular gates and bridges, and the diversity of transport within the expo site from bus to ferry boat, to

cable car Cable car most commonly refers to the following cable transportation systems: * Aerial lift, such as aerial tramways and gondola lifts, in which the vehicle is suspended in the air from a cable ** Aerial tramway ** Chairlift ** Gondola lift *** ...

and

monorail A monorail is a Rail transport, railway in which the track consists of a single rail or beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurately, the term refers to the style ...

. To serve the exhibition, the largest-ever parking lot was built next to it, with capacity for 36,000 cars, 1,410

coaches Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

and 2,578 service vehicles, which was used by four million vehicles during the fair. The expo also gave an impressive architectural tour of the world, with many countries vying for the position of the most inventive or creative pavilion structure. Outstanding amongst these was the Pavilion of Japan –the world's largest wooden structure–, the Pavilion of Morocco –a re-creation of a Moroccan Palace-Mansion–, and the modernistic cube and sphere of the flagship Pavilion of Spain, to name a few. The most popular pavilions with visitors were those of Spain and Canada. During the exhibition, the expo site opened its doors at 9:00 am and closed at 4:00 am the following day, with the pavilions open from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm. Each day was dedicated to a different participating country or organization and events related to it were held. There were shows and street entertainment throughout the day. A large parade, entitled ''The Magic of Time'' and created by the theatre company , toured the site at dusk. At 10:30 pm, there was a grand show of light, sound, projections on water screens, and fireworks on the Lake of Spain. After 10:30 pm, except in the international zone which was fenced off, nightclubs opened, restaurants and bars remained open, and there were evening shows, concerts, and film screenings. Visitors could purchase tickets to visit the expo during the whole day, or just for the evening. The

HD-MAC HD-MAC (High Definition Multiplexed Analogue Components) was a broadcast television systems, broadcast television standard proposed by the European Commission in 1986, as part of Eureka (organisation), Eureka 95 project. It belongs to the Multiplex ...

standard, an early

analog high-definition television Analog high-definition television has referred to a variety of analog video broadcast television systems with various display resolutions throughout history. Before 1940 On 2 November 1936 the BBC began transmitting the world's first public r ...

system, was demonstrated at the expo.

Pavilions

Pavilions at the expo consisted of the Royal Pavilion and the five thematic pavilions –the Fifteenth Century, Discoveries, Nature, Navigation, and ; the flagship pavilions of Spain and

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

at the Lake of Spain; the Spanish Autonomous Regions pavilions all along the Lake of Spain; over a hundred international pavilions; and several corporate pavilions, making it one of the largest ever hosted up to that time. To offset costs by developing nations, and to allow a first-ever representation by every Latin American nation in an universal exhibition, a permanent monumental structure, the was constructed, a large enclosed plaza-type building in a rustic red colour which also hosted a special Exhibition on the Gold of South America. A was also built to allow maximum participation from developing African countries. For the same reason, several ephemeral pavilions were built to group together the Arab, Baltic, Caribbean, and the South Pacific countries in each one.

Thematic pavilions

National pavilions

Regional pavilions

International organisations pavilions

Corporate pavilions

Gallery

File:Pabellón de la Navegación y torre Schindler 001.jpg, Pavilion of Navigation and Schindler Tower File:Sevilla Expo 92-Pabellón de las Ciencias físicas-1992 05 05.jpg, Pavilion of the Universe File:Pabellón de Canadá.JPG, Pavilion of Canada File:Pabellon de Chile.jpg, Pavilion of Chile File:Czechoslovak Pavilon EXPO 92 Sevilla.jpg, Pavilion of Czechoslovakia and Pavilion of Switzerland File:Sevilla Expo 92-Pabellón de Francia-1992 05 05.jpg, Pavilion of France File:Sevilla Expo 92-Velas-1992 05 05.jpg, Pavilion of Germany File:Sevilla - PCT Cartuja, Pabellón de Hungría de la Expo 92 - 04.jpg, Pavilion of Hungary File:Sevilla Expo 92-Pabellón de India-1992 05 05.jpg, Pavilion of India File:Pabellón de Italia, Expo'92 Sevilla.jpg, Pavilion of Italy File:Pabellon de japon expo 92.jpg, Pavilion of Japan File:Pabellón Hassan II (1992).jpg, Pavilion of Morocco File:Fachada del edificio del Instituto de Estadística de Andalucía.jpg, Pavilion of New Zealand File:Expo 92 Sevilla 05.jpg, Some of the regional pavilions on the Lake of Spain File:Avenue de l'Europe Expo Séville 1992.JPG, Pavilion of the European Community

Mascot

Curro was the

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...

for the fair. It has the shape of a big white bird with the legs of an elephant, whose long conical

beak The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for pecking, grasping, and holding (in probing for food, eating, manipulating and ...

and crest had the colours of the

rainbow A rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular ...

. It was created by German designer

Heinz Edelmann Heinz Edelmann (20 June 1934 – 21 July 2009) was a Czech-German illustrator and designer. His art direction and character designs for the Beatles' 1968 animated film '' Yellow Submarine'' brought him additional recognition around the world. ...

(who is best known for his work on the 1968 animated film, '' Yellow Submarine''), who also gave it the name ''Curro'', an Andalusian pet form of Spanish male name ''Francisco''. Curro was revealed on 14 March 1989 in Madrid, and he was officially presented in the Plaza de España of Seville, in a big fest of light and sound on 22 April 1989, three years before the fair's inauguration.

Climate control

The hot Sevillian summer was largely abated by a microfilter water air conditioning system throughout the site, principally along the main avenues and streets, under canopied sections both of tensile fabric and greenery. Visitors were sprayed with cool mist in various locations, and could make use of the numerous fountains and wading pools to cool off. The main element of this cooling system was the Bioclimatic Sphere, which sprayed mist to cool visitors and became one of the most recognizable icons of the expo.

Post-expo, the expo site today

At the end of the Universal Exhibition, many pavilions were dismantled or demolished, others were moved to other locations, and others have been maintained and are part of the Cartuja Science and Technology Park (PCT Cartuja). Administrative services and city facilities have also moved to some of the buildings and plots left by the fair. One can walk throughout the site freely, seeing the pavilions and structures that are still standing. A theme park named and a water park named was built in and around Lake of Spain. Initially called , the theme park was built on the grounds of the Lake of Spain, and it also used the Pavilion of Spain and some regional pavilions for attractions. The theme park was later redesigned and it reopened as on 28 June 1997. In 1998, all the regional pavilions still standing, with the exception of the Pavilion of Andalusia, were demolished and the theme park was extended onto the vacated land. On 28 June 2014, the water park was opened. Admission to the fun parks requires an entrance fee.