A Musical Tour of Spain
If a place is good it’s often worth singing about. Just look at all the songs written about California, for example, while no one I know has written an ode to Milton Keynes. Spain’s got some great places which I thought would be worth a whistle-stop tour. I’m sticking to the mainland here to avoid putting on any plastic tracks in praise of Ibiza…
So, to get in the mood to arrive in the country we listen to Miles Davis’ Sketches of Spain and Christy Moore’s rousing Viva La Quinta Brigada before touching down in Barcelona, as sung by Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé. We drive south and have a good listen to Jose Carreras welcoming us to land of flowers, light and love in Valencia before pushing onto party with the Pogues in Almeria.
Valencia's Manolo Bangs the Drums
Let’s head west to the Costa del Sol and get enchanted with the Malagueña before winding our way northwards to the ramparts of Sevilla, Carmen’s city. Let’s keep going north and stroll around the dusty town of Aranjuez with Joaquin Rodrigo before accepting Ketama’s invitation to ‘Vente pa’ Madrid’.
Are there no songs about the north?
