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Andorra
Map of Andorra
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South Western Europe page
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Andorra
Map of Andorra |
Population: 66.000
Capital: Andorra la Vella
Official language: Catalan
Ethnic groups: Spanish 43%, Andorran 33%, Portuguese 11%, French
7%, other 6% (1998)
Background: Long isolated and impoverished, mountainous Andorra
has achieved considerable prosperity since World War II through its tourist
industry. Many immigrants (legal and illegal) are attracted to the thriving
economy with its lack of income taxes.
(Source: Worldfackbook 2000, CIA)
More Background: BBC Country profile: Andorra
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Gibraltar
Map of Gibraltar |
Population: 30.000
Capital: Gibraltar
Official language: English
Ethnic groups: Italian, English, Maltese, Portuguese, Spanish
Background: Strategically important Gibraltar was ceded to Great
Britain by Spain in 1713. In a 1967 referendum, Gibraltarians ignored Spanish
pressure and voted overwhelmingly to remain a British dependency.
(Source: WorldFackbook 2000 CIA)
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Portugal
Map of Portugal |
Population: 10 million
Capital: Lisbon
Offisial language: Portuguese
Major ethnic groups: homogeneous Mediterranean stock; citizens
of black African descent who immigrated to mainland during decolonization
number less than 100,000
Background: Following its heyday as a world power during the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal lost much of its wealth and status with the destruction of Lisbon in a 1755 earthquake, occupation during the Napoleonic Wars, and the loss of its Brazilian colony in 1822. A 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy; for most of the next six decades repressive governments ran the country. In 11034, a left-wing military coup installed broad democratic reforms. The following year Portugal granted independence to all of its African colonies. Portugal entered the EC in 1985. (Source: WorldFactbook 2000 CIA)
More Background: BBC Country profile: Portugal
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Spain
Map of Spain |
Population: 40 million
Capital: Madrid
Offisial language: Castilian Spanish (Local sources claims it
to be four: Galego, Català, Euskera and Castellano. Eds. remark)
Major ethnic groups: composite of Mediterranean and Nordic types
Background: Spain's powerful world empire of the 16th and 17th
centuries ultimately yielded command of the seas to England. Subsequent
failure to embrace the mercantile and industrial revolutions caused the
country to fall behind Britain, France, and Germany in economic and political
power. Spain remained neutral in World Wars I and II, but suffered through
a devastating Civil War (1936-39). In the second half of the 20th century,
it has played a catch-up role in the western international community. Continuing
concerns are large-scale unemployment and the Basque separatist movement.
(Source: WorldFactbook 2000 CIA)
More Background: BBC Country profile: Spain
Flamenco, the most known style out of the country, is not the one and
only, as these different cultures have impregnated the cultural manifestations.
| Flamenco is alive in the wwhole country, but
it is in Andalucía where the main developements are been created.
There is an important flamenco tradition between the gypsies from Catalunya,
specially in an style called rumba, that´s a lighter and more easy
danzable rythm than the different palos or syles in flamenco.
Flamenco is an easily recognizable music, but it is full of variety. There are more than twenty palos, that are different rythmic compositions, like bulerías, soleares, peteneras,..., each one with an special feeling, allowing to the cantaor to express his or her interiority with a cry that sometimes reaches the tearing. Duende is an expression you will hear if you ever watch flamenco alive. The Spanish passionated soul gets extremed in cante jondo. Duende is a imprecise term. Duende is a faculty that some artists can sometimes show. It is the absolute fussion between music and artist, a fussion that reaches the stomach of the audience and make the troubles out of the music been forgot for those short moments. |
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Galician folk is another musical tradition in Spain, and nowadays, one of the strongest ones. Rainy and cloudy most of the year, a weather so similar to Irish one, the Galician folk shows a little different way of feeling the emotions, sometimes quiet and intimist, but sometimes powerful and spicy, showing the celtic relation of this both regions of Europe, roots that they share with the north of Portugal and Britain. Two of the musical symbols are galician bagpipers and groups of pandereteiras, women who sing in such a strong way that they just can sing once in hours. Galician folk has had a revival the last decade, with some artists like Carlos Nuñez, who has became international succesful due to his virtuosity and his hability in sorrounding himself with very capable artist, like the recognized group of pandereteiras Cantigueiras Xiradela.
Another Spanish region that has had a renaissance in its traditional music has been Basque Country. Maybe the most internationally famous figure in Basque folk nowadays is Kepa Junkera. Kepa plays trikitixa, a diatonic accordion from this region. But Basque Country has some special intruments that can seem very strange and that are very arcaic, and still keep their original shapes. One of the most relevants in the txalaparta, a percussion instrument that is played beating a plank of wood with two sticks. It is used to be played by two "txalaparari", who let these sticks fall down over the plank, and it produces these ancestral sounds.
Each Spanish region has a clearly different folk music, because of the
geographical and historical developements, that has made of it one of the
richest resources in ethnic music, and the latest times it is recovering
the position it has thanks to the work of musicians and ethnomusicologist,
like Luis Delgado, Rosa Zaragoza, Eliseo Parra... and some other artist
who seek in the roots of their ancestors and bring their legazy to the
XXI century.
Instruments:
Air: gaita (galician bagpipe), trikitixa, chiflo, chistú, alboka
Strings: zanfona, spanish guitar, timple.
Percusión: cajón, pandereta, crótalos or castañuelas,
txalaparta.