The relationship of the capital with flamenco is built through the tablaos of Madrid. Flamenco is not from here, but here you can enjoy the best singers, dancers and musicians, who sooner or later pass through the stages of the city.
Eduardo Murillo Saborido, Spanish music expert, explains it this way in his Master’s Thesis on the subject: “From 1954 until the mid-seventies, the flamenco tablaos of Madrid were the institutions that brought together the largest number of flamenco music figures, being for many of them the first step in their professional career in this musical genre”. During those 20 years, flamenco flourished in the capital, always closely linked to tourism -from which it lives on today-, to the migration of Andalusians to Madrid, and to the creation of a cultural identity easy to export, although with a very complex base, which was forced during Franco’s regime. This union from the beginning with one of the economic engines of the country, the hotel industry, has made this art develop, evolve and depend on it.
Closures, pandemics and reopenings of tablaos
Some bastions of flamenco purity also emerged during this period, such as the Zambra tablao, which closed in 1975, the Las Brujas tablao, or the Corral de la Morería, which continues to be one of the temples of this art form, with a Michelin star and having been the best restaurant in Madrid in 2021 to its success. In the latter Paco de Lucía presented Entre Dos Aguas, the Rumba that represented a new paradigm within flamenco and that even those who have never delved into this music have heard, even if involuntarily on television or in the movies.
After the first decline in the late seventies, the closures of flamenco tablaos as unique as those mentioned above were repeated, but until 2020 in Madrid survived great flamenco scenes such as Casa Patas, The Candela or the Villa Rosa. And since their dependence on tourism, as we move into the 21st century, is increasing, it is easy to understand that the pandemic was devastating for these areas. Casa Patas was one of the few that didn’t live only on the nostalgia of having hosted all the greats: Camarón de la Isla, Tomatito, Joaquín Cortés and a long etcetera; here Rosalía made one of her first performances in Madrid with her first album. But between the uncertainty and the June 2020 closure, there has always been hope for the reopening of this legendary space that never quite arrived.
Re-opening that did live the Villa Rosa. The current owner Ivana Portolés, with extensive experience in other tablaos such as Cardamomo, has changed the name to Tablao Flamenco 1911, because a former owner registered the name and they have been legally restricted from using the trademark. As he explained to Madrid Secreto, they have avoided becoming a franchise, have kept the artistic level at the height of the place and have begun to make cycles of singing and guitar, so that it is not only the dance that overshadows this art.