Once again, the long-awaited Flamenco Law is back in the headlines, courtesy of the Government Council of Andalusia, which will promote the teaching of flamenco in all academic levels in Andalusia and will acknowledge the importance of the peñas flamencas. At least that’s what’s being proposed to the Culture and Historical Heritage Council, a department directed by Patricia del Pozo.

«To protect and promote flamenco as one of the main identifying features of Andalusia» is the mission that the Andalusian Government has proposed. To achieve this, the path is clear: to include flamenco in all its aspects — cante, toque and baile — in all programs of the primary, secondary and tertiary educational centers. This is without a doubt an aspiration of many professionals in the world of flamenco, who have been demanding for many years the inclusion of this art in the official education programs.

The idea of the Junta de Andalucía is to approve the Flamenco Law in the near future. The Culture and Historical Heritage Council is planning to acknowledge the essential role of peñas and will meet with representatives of different sectors in the world of flamenco to create a commission which will design the Andalusia Flamenco Law Project. Such commission will be formed after the public bidding for the direction of the del Andalusian Institute of Flamenco (IAF) is finalized.

Besides, this Government Council agreement fulfills the Non-binding Proposition approved on September 22^nd, 2016 in the el Andalusian Parliament, which urged the Andalusian Government to initiate the proceedings to create the Flamenco Law, remitting the Law Project to the autonomous chamber before September 2017, a goal which was not achieved.