Senses of Spain February 2025 newsletter
The music of Andalucía, ticket traps to watch out for, the reopening of a beloved natural park, and some beautiful views for your bucket list.
Feliz Día de Andalucía! It’s still (just) February 28 as I write this, a regional holiday in my part of Spain, and I’m spending the weekend in the only one of Andalucía’s eight provinces that I hadn’t yet set foot in. Qué emocion! More on that in a future newsletter…
For your ears:
🎶 An Andalucían playlist
Music is such an important part of cultural life in Andalucía, from the stirring brass band marches of Semana Santa to the popular hits played at feria. While tradition plays a strong role, there are plenty of contemporary artists putting their own spin on Andalucía’s musical heritage: blending flamenco with electronica or pop, or interpreting the classics in a new style.
Put together in honour of Andalucía Day, this playlist features music from the early 20th century to the present. I started with some of my favourites and crowd-sourced the rest from my wonderful Instagram community, discovering some new favourites in the process. Listen to the playlist on Spotify here.
Here’s some background on some of my top picks, along with links to listen to them on YouTube:
Camarón de la Isla: La leyenda del tiempo
One of the greatest flamenco artists sings the words of one of Andalucía’s greatest writers. La leyenda del tiempo (the Legend of Time) is a poetic fragment from Federico García Lorca’s play Así que cinco años (When Five Years Pass).
The words, set to music by Camarón and producer/arranger Ricardo Pachon, are a meditation on the nature of time and dreams. Camarón’s extraordinary voice is accompanied by the traditional palmas (hand claps) of flamenco, and some very unconventional touches – such as the use of an electric bass guitar. The song appeared on his 1979 album of the same name. Its innovative fusion style shocked flamenco purists (I’m reminded of the impact of Bob Dylan going electric), but it went on to become one of the most influential albums of the genre.
One example of the song’s enduring impact on Spanish popular culture is its appearance in the TV series El Ministerio del Tiempo (The Ministry of Time) which ran for four seasons between 2015 and 2020. It’s a blend of sci-fi/fantasy and historical fiction in which agents from a secretive government ministry travel through time to prevent intruders from the past from altering our present (and vice-versa).
Spoilers ahead…
Some background: Lorca completed Así que cinco años in August 1931. Exactly five years later, he was dead - executed by Nationalist forces in the opening days of the Spanish Civil War. In the fourth season of El Ministerio del Tiempo, the character Julian meets Lorca and warns him of his impending death. He then leads the incredulous writer to a cave in Granada in 1979, where Camarón is playing La leyenda del tiempo to a packed room.
“Have we travelled in time?” Lorca asks Julian, who replies: “Let’s say it has been a dream” (a wink towards the subject matter of Lorca’s play, the song, and indeed, the series itself). As Lorca listens, it slowly dawns on him: these are my words. He turns to Julian with a smile and tears in his eyes: “After all this time, Spain still remembers me? Then… I have won, not them.” It’s one of the most moving scenes I have ever seen on television, Spanish or otherwise, and it went massively viral on social media. You can watch it yourself on the RTVE website.
Los Morente
I’ve included several songs by members of the Morente family, one of Spain’s most important flamenco dynasties. Enrique Morente (1942-2010) was another hugely influential and innovative proponent of nuevo flamenco in the 1970s. I particularly love his 1983 album Cruz y luna (Cross and Moon), which sets poems by Christian and Islamic writers from Spain’s past to music.
From that album, I have chosen En un sueño viniste (You Came in a Dream), which is based on an 11th-century poem by Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad, the last ruler of the Taifa of Seville in al-Andalus.
I have also included a song by Enrique Morente’s daughter Estrella, whose beautiful voice has been the soundtrack to some of my most viral Instagram reels, and his son Kiki, whose song Lunares tells of an emotional homecoming: “I come from Madrid with flowers, because in Granada they’re waiting for me…”
Califato 3/4
One of the most interesting Andalucían bands of recent years. Califato 3/4 (Califato tres por cuatro) combines electronica, hip hop and breakbeat with music deeply rooted in the region’s traditions, from the era of al-Andalus (their name is a nod to the medieval Caliphate of Córdoba) to the ever-present flamenco, and even brass band marches played during the processions of Semana Santa (holy week).
One of their breakout hits - Crîtto de lâ Nabahâ - samples the march Eternidad (Eternity) by the gifted composer Sergio Larrinaga of the brass band Rosario de Cádiz, who sadly died in 2021 at the age of 45. The same march was used by the Andalucían tourist board in their 2024 publicity campaign Andalusian Crush. It’s an extraordinarily stirring piece of music that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up every time I hear it.
A linguistic note: if the title Crîtto de lâ Nabahâ looks like another language, it’s because the band uses a phonetic spelling known as EPA, which reflects the Andalucían accent. Crîtto de lâ Nabahâ = Cristo de las Navajas (Christ of the Knives).
Voices of Málaga
Of course, being based in Málaga I had to share some of the many talented artists from here. Marisol (aka Pepa Flores) was a child star of the 1960s who had an extremely successful career before retiring from the spotlight in 1985. Her version of the song Estando contigo (Being with You) was recorded for the film Ha llegado un ángel (An Angel has Arrived) in 1961 when she was just 13 years old, evidence of her prodigious talent.
Skipping forward a few decades we have Ahí estás tú (There you Are) by the band Chambao, famous for their “flamenco chill” fusion sound. Released in 2003, this song is pure sunlight.
More recent still is María Peláe, another fine example of the evolving nature of flamenco-pop. La Putukita, her collaboration with the singer Melody with an inescapably catchy chorus, was released in 2023 and was a favourite in the streets of Málaga during last year’s feria.
I could go on and on about the songs in this playlist but I’ll leave it there for now. I would love to hear your thoughts - which are your favourites? Any glaring omissions? You can reply to this email or leave a comment via the SubStack app/website if you’re reading this online.
Spain travel news
🚨 Ticket traps: Police have identified at least one overseas website selling tickets for one of Spain’s most popular cultural attractions, the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, at vastly inflated prices. It’s a good reminder to always check that you’re buying from the official website for sites like this and other major attractions, such as Granada’s Alhambra. Resellers are not always a scam, but you may pay over the odds for no good reason.
There are a number of websites that use language like “official Alhambra tickets” without being the official site at all. This drives me up the wall. For the avoidance of any doubt, the official Alhambra website is this one (you can tell by the logo of the Junta de Andalucía, the regional government, in the footer), and this is the official Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba website.
🌧️ After the deluge: One of Spain’s most beautiful historic parks, Monasterio de Piedra in Aragon (2.5 hours drive from Madrid), is set to reopen soon. The park was forced to close after the torrential rains in late October and November led to devastating floods that destroyed some of its infrastructure. According to their Instagram, they will be reopening in mid-March, exact date TBC. I highly recommend a visit here, because as well as the many spectacular waterfalls, grottoes and lakes, there are the ruins of a medieval monastery to explore. It makes a great place to stop for a few hours if you’re travelling by road between Madrid and Zaragoza, a lovely city that is also well worth a visit.
🏗️ Coming soon: The spectacular gorge walk known as El Caminito del Rey is one of Malaga province’s (indeed, Andalucía’s) most popular visitor attractions, and this year marks 10 years since it opened to the public in its present form. It already boasts a vertiginous swinging bridge (scroll down to see), which will soon be joined by an even longer one - the longest suspension footbridge in Spain, no less. If you’re planning a visit to the Caminito del Rey I highly recommend Autumn or Spring, as it can get uncomfortably hot in the height of summer. I have more tips for visiting in this TikTok video.
Random list of the month
📷 Eight of the best… Views of Andalucía
With Google Maps locations in the links.
Granada: the view from the Sala Regia in the Generalife (in the Alhambra complex).
Jaén: The cathedral as seen from the mirador “El Balcón del Santo Reino”.
Vejer de la Frontera: Arcos de la Judería.
Ronda: the Puente Nuevo, seen from the Arabic arch.
Córdoba: the Roman Bridge, as seen from the Torre de la Calahorra.
Granada: the Alhambra at night, as seen from the Carmen de la Victoria.
El Caminito del Rey: the suspension bridge at the final stage of the walk.
Nerja: an archway at the side of the Balcón de Europa.
Until next time!
Un abrazo
Amy
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Excellent, thoroughly researched information and superb photos Amy ( we’ve been to many of 5hese sights ❤️) . A joy to read, and visits to reminisce . We’re hoping to return again soon. We’ve not yet visited Malaga, …your colourful patch.
Hi Amy. Am a big fan of Chambao and am looking forward to listening to your playlist. A friend mentioned Califato 3/4 the other day funnily enough. Lovely photos! Though I live in Granada, I still haven't managed to visit Jaen or Nerja so I might be doing that in the coming weeks. Thanks for the tips.