Get the Scoop on Ice Cream in Seville

Summer is here, and with it comes ferocious sweating, desperate shade-seeking, and the uncontrollable urge to jump into every large body of water in sight.

June, July, and August can be difficult months in Seville, where you question every decision you’ve ever made that got you to this point of hyperthermia. The one benefit of living in this much relentless heat? Ice cream. At this point, it’s not just a delicious snack, it’s a medical necessity.

Spain might not be as well known for ice cream as Italy, but wait! News just in: gelato is shit.

Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but as with wine, ham, and olive oil, whatever Italy can do, Spain can do better. In fact, Spanish ice cream is made in the same way as gelato!

The main differences here are a slightly lower fat content when compared to normal ice cream, due to the use of more whole milk versus cream, as well as a more dense texture and mouthfeel. Ice cream in Spain tends to be whipped at a lower speed than other styles, resulting in less air in the mixture.

Add some pretty interesting local flavours to the mix–like turrón or dulce de leche (a caramel made from sweetened condensed milk)–and you have a delicious, Spanish-ified (read: improved) version of gelato!

Finding the best ice cream in Seville

You can find delicious helado throughout Seville, to help turn your summer sweat-fest into a slightly tastier summer sweat-fest (just as sticky, although in a much different way).

The problem is, there are a few big chains that have taken advantage of the oppressive heat of summer and the desperate chill-seeking humans that inhabit it. So, making sure to avoid these while finding the real gems of frozen confectionery can be a difficult task.

Luckily, I’ve been able to get the scoop on where to find the quality iced creams, so you can avoid disappointing tastes as an accompaniment to the hellish wastelands of Andalucian summer.

Read more: Need something to eat after your coffee? Check out my guide to the best tapas in Seville, and the dishes you can’t afford to miss!

#1 Créeme Helado

Practical information:

• Address: Plaza del Museo, 2.
• Hours: 12pm-12am, Sunday to Thursday; 12pm-1am, Fridays and Saturdays.
• What to order: 75% Tanzanian dark chocolate sorbet!!!

Créeme is a family-owned and run ice cream parlour across the plaza from Seville’s fine arts museum, and is quite possibly home to the best ice cream that I’ve ever eaten. In fact, it’s so good that lovers of fine art might be better off going straight to the ice cream, rather than bother with the museum.

All of the ice cream is made on-site, from 100% natural ingredients. Many of the flavours are in fact organic, and I’m a big fan of any store that tells you the origin country of the chocolate it uses! Even the cones are homemade, and have an actual toasty flavour, which makes me really question how and why cones in other ice creameries can have no taste?!

When I walked in, the flavour that caught my eye the most was avocado. That’s right; avocado ice cream. I was silly enough to ask what it tasted like, and was given the answer: “well, avocado…” (ask a stupid question…). A faint green colour, it had been completely worked by hand, and had a surprisingly delicate sweetness balanced against the fruitiness of the avocado.

#2 Bolas

Practical information:

• Address: Cuesta del Rosario, 1.
• Hours: 2pm-12am, Monday to Wednesday; 2pm-1am, Thursday to Saturday; 2pm-11pm on Sundays.
• What to order: “La Medina”, orange sorbet with ginger and cinnamon.

Just behind the beautiful and imposing Salvador church is Bolas Helados. All of the ice creams here are homemade with natural ingredients, and have the beautifully creamy texture of proper gelato: somehow dense and light at the same time, without cloy or too much sweetness. 

Be prepared for incredibly unique flavours, ranging from exquisite versions of classics like their super-fresh strawberry to luxury goats cheese with quince! I’m also a massive fan of their all-Andalus (yes, that’s a pun, not a typo) range. La Medina is a mix of Moorish-inspired orange, cinnamon, and ginger; while Sevilla mora is a winning combo of dried fruit and cloves.

#3 La Fiorentina

Practical information:

• Address: Calle Zaragoza, 16.
• Hours: 1pm-12am, Sunday to Thursday; 1pm-1am on Fridays and Saturdays.
• What to order: Lime with basil sorbet, or their signature flavour of orange blossom.

Despite the Italian name, La Fiorentina is as Seville as ice cream can get. It’s owned and run by another local family, spearheaded by owner and chief ice cream-maker Joaquin Liria. He takes inspiration from the ingredients typical to Andalucian cuisine; orange blossom, anise, sesame, spearmint, olive oil, basil, and cinnamon.

Many of these were originally brought to Spain from North Africa, by the Moors—giving Joaquin’s helado a uniquely southern Spanish flavour.

Read more

More on the differences between ice cream and Italian-style gelato.

Travelling in winter and reckon that ice cream is too cold? Try out the best churros in Seville instead! And for your other sugary needs, why not seek out some of the best convent sweets in Seville?

And for everything else, head to my ultimate foodie’s guide to where to eat in Seville.