When one thinks of Andalusia and music, flamenco is the first to come to mind. And for good reason… Andalusia wouldn’t be the same without flamenco. Included in 2010 in UNESCO’s intangible world heritage, flamenco is more than an art, a musical style or a cultural phenomenon. Just like with a language, no one can point out exactly when or how the cante jondo originated. Could it have appeared somewhere else, without the gitanos and their social persecution, the Moorish heritage, and the dry, warm climate of Andalusia ? Not likely.
And yes, you can savor a bit of flamenco wherever you’d be in southern Spain. Plenty of restaurants offer flamenco with a decent dinner, in Cordoba, Sacramonte or Sevilla. But if you wish for more than that, you need someone local, ideally with a good ear and local connections to know the really hot spots. One has to attend a velada flamenca, a romeria or a belong to a peńa, to skim below the surface. The right time and place.

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