Return by train from Villa y Corte towards Seville –knock on wood!–, and after speaking about the training needs of the world of tablaos, it is the Region of Madrid which has not been able to escape this requirement. It has not done so by throwing the ball out like the Andalusian Agency of Cultural Institutions, which is neither here nor expected to be in such a role, but to reinforce its cultural offering through the flamenco. I explain it.
The Community of Madrid has invested 400.000 euros in tablaos flamencos, which not only guarantees a cultural welcome for Madrid residents and visitors, but also consolidates its position as a tourist destination and a world reference for art that, generated in Andalusia, finds one of its most distinctive collective identities hundreds of kilometres from the capital of Seville.
The agreement, as I have learned, will be valid until 2025, and has been signed by the Autonomous Government with the Association of Tablaos Flamencos in order to promote these emblematic spaces as tourist and cultural references, but also to consolidate the community as the epicenter of flamenco.
It is undeniable to point out, in this regard, that the Minister of Culture, Tourism and Sport of the Community of Madrid, Mariano by Paco Serrano, refers us to a model that, based on the framework of values of its competence, applies in practice the dissemination of the dimensions of the flamenco, but also providing an effective tool to help entrepreneurs manage the promotion of Spain's image.
Let us not forget that, as a staunch defender of tablaos, there are great events for the dissemination of flamenco, but most of them make the same mistake, advocating a break with history. On the contrary, serious tablaos remake it in each staging, a component that has been part of their condition since the pioneer of all was opened, The Guajiro, installed on Salado Street in the Seville neighborhood of Los Remedios.
We write about a tablao that, opened in 1951 – many analysts mistakenly say 1956 – arose as a result of the society formed by Juan Cortes Hatton and a gypsy from Extremadura who was nicknamed El Guajiro, hence his name, and who became one of the most important of those years, since the most relevant figures passed through his band, such as Perrate, Fosforito, Carmen Carreras, Trini España, Paco Isidro, Tío Parrilla, Enrique Montoya, Farruco, Rafael el Negro, Matilde Coral, Terremoto (when he danced), Romerito, Manuela Vargas, Chocolate or El Sordera de Jerez.
After the company was dissolved in 1956, Hatton became independent and opened a restaurant in Plaza del Duque, Seville, The Andalusian Courtyard (1956), which highlighted Farruco, Cristina Hoyos, Milagros Mengíbar and Chano Lobato, and which would be followed The goblin, at the Royal Venta de Antequera, with Pastora Imperio, Antonio Mairena, Alejandro Vega, Bambino, Mario Maya or El Lebrijano, and already in 1966 the prestigious The Roosters, in Santa Cruz Square.
"The agreement mentioned is discriminatory, even though Madrid seeks to protect the quality of the tablaos and diversify the cultural offering of a community that we admire for its importance in the genesis and diffusion of what jondo, but from the consideration of disadvantage it cannot be labeled as the world capital of flamenco, in the sense of becoming the nerve center of the flamenco, although it is an essential reference destination»
In Madrid, on the other hand, and according to what my iPad from my personal files tells me, the first to appear was the Zambra tablao, on Ruiz de Alarcón street, 7, in the noble area of Madrid, right next to the Ritz Hotel. Founded in 1954 by the Palencia native Fernan A. Casares (Fernán Antolín Alonso Casares), and his prestige led him to represent Spain at the New York International Fair and the Theatre of Nations in Paris, with such relevant names as Rosa Durán, Pericón de Cádiz, Manolo Vargas, Perico del Lunar, Mario Maya, Isabel Romero and José Menese, among many others.
In Zambra the flamenco was the only purpose. However, in the subsequent tablaos the purpose was a means to expand the hospitality business, hence spaces of equal note emerged, such as The Corral de la Morería (1956), the most famous in the world, on Morería Street, 17, opened by Manuel del Rey, in which Lucero Tena with Gabriel Moreno and Serranito, Porrinas from Badajoz, Juanito Serrano, La Chunga, Blanca del Rey and Fernanda and Bernarda from Utrera paraded.
Let us also mention The goblin (1956), by Pastora Imperio, in Señores de Luján, 3, run by her son-in-law the bullfighter Gypsy from Triana, and with figures such as Rosario la Mejorana, Alejandro Vega, Rocío Jurado, El Lebrijano, the Toronjo Brothers or Matilde Coral and Rafael el Negro; Las Brujas (1960), on the ground floor of Calle Norte, 11, open until 1982, and founded by a Pontanés, a seamancante, and a Cordoban, a ship's telegraph operator, brought together artists such as Merche Esmeralda, María Jiménez and La Susi; Vermilion Towers, on Mesonero Romanos street, 11, founded by Felipe García and whose decoration imitates the Alhambra, with Camarón de la Isla, Mario Maya, El Güito, Trini España or Manolo Sanlúcar, and Nemesio Caves (1960), in Cava Alta, 5.
Later the tablao would be inaugurated Knife Bow (1961), where Alejandro Vega choreographed the Christmas carols for the first time (1963); The Basket Makers (1963), by Manolo Caracol, on Barbieri Street, 11, with Gabriela Ortega, Fernanda Romero, Manolo Mairena, Curro Vélez, Bambino, Melchor de Marchena or Paco Cepero; Nerja caves (1964) at Gran Vía 43, in the old Grill of the Hotel Rex, and Villa Rosa (1964), opening five years later Chinitas Coffee (1969), in old Madrid, which recalls the 7th century Malaga café cantante, on Calle Torija, 1994, on the ground floor of an 2010th century palace where we saw José Mercé more than once until he left in XNUMX, and since XNUMX being the Bullfighting tablao the one who persists in the idea of the primitive Zambra of only offering flamenco, which is why it does not seek a break with history, but rather to take refuge in history.
So far, so good. But when I referred to the agreement between the Community of Madrid and the tablaos, this does not bind everyone, but only those who belong to the association, which paradoxically does not include – I insist – all those who are part of it, but those who are there, so we cannot give it the character of equity and, therefore, it does not suggest an intelligent attitude, since those who have not been given access are left out of an agreement that, in a State of Law, has to be agreed upon by the autonomous government and all those who represent the Madrid tablaos and share common objectives.
The fact that not all the businessmen were at the negotiating table is, in my opinion, unequal treatment, which is not an obstacle to emphasizing once again that the influence that these cultural spaces have in Madrid is such that they play a key role in the dissemination of flamenco worldwide. And we confirmed this last night (on the 8th) at the Sala Torero, which was artistically directed by the dancer The Mistela, whom I have known for forty years, reveals to his visitors the meaning and impact of the flamenco It has taken into account diversity and its history, because, in addition to programming artistic works, it projects cultural knowledge.
The agreement mentioned above – the main reason for the imminence of this article – is, therefore, discriminatory, even though Madrid seeks to protect the quality of the tablaos and, consequently, diversify the cultural offering of a community that we admire for its importance in the genesis and diffusion of what jondo, but from the consideration of disadvantage, it cannot be labeled as the world capital of flamenco, in the sense of becoming the nerve center of the flamenco, although it is, without a doubt, an essential reference destination.
