A street named after Parrilla de Jerez. That’s the goal of the family of this brilliant guitarist, who is urging the local authorities to start the necessary paperwork to achieve this aim, particularly at this time of the year, the Christmas season, when every day we hear villancicos performed, in good measure, thanks to the efforts in preserving and promoting this sub-genre by Manuel Fernández Molina, aka Parrilla de Jerez, the son of Tío Parrilla. This Gypsy from Jerez’s San Miguel district, born on 45 Campana Street in 1945, who left us in 2009 after a long illness, was brilliant as accompanist of cante with his guitar and a virtuoso as soloist, besides being a great music interpreter. He was the soul of a historic project started in 1982, launched by the Cátedra de Flamencología de Jerez with Juan de la Plata and the indispensable support by Jerez’s editor and producer Juan Pedro Aladro. “Así Canta Nuestra Tierra en Navidad” (“That’s How our Land Sings in Christmas”) started with a volume that showcased traditional and popular villancicos, sung in chorus and with a sound essence that carefully conveyed the naturality and authenticity of those parties. Tracks such as ‘Una pandereta suena‘, ‘Al pasar por Casablanca‘ or the so-called ‘Villancico del Gloria‘ are listed in the back cover, reclaiming what was being lost, or even what had already been lost. Neighborhood bastions and some peñas, such as ‘La Colchonera’ (Jerez’s partners of Atlético de Madrid, but born in Jerez, with much art) or ‘Los Cernícalos’, kept some vitality in that regard, because in those years businesses and local authorities didn’t care much about this type of celebration during the Christmas season, declared Bien de Interés Cultural (Cultural Heritage) in the year 2015 .

This idea that turned into an album series had the financial and moral support of Jerez’s Caja de Ahorros(Savings Bank), so it was much easier to execute the proposals agreed in the artistic aspects that were well understood by the true protagonist of this article. We must contextualize, though, particularly in these days when many people take the Zambomba for granted and many mistakes are made when it comes to protect a heritage which defines this land together with others in the province which created or shaped the lyrical body of Christmas in Lower Andalusia. The fact is that its fame is growing excessively, but the zambomba(not “zambomba” or “zambombada”) is something else, not mass gatherings where few participate, most watch and everyone drinks. Yet, let’s try to focus on the positive aspects!