EUROPALIA ESPAÑA: art as force to fight polarisation
EUROPALIA celebrates its 30th edition this autumn with a large-scale Spanish biennale. Their original mission still holds true today, more than ever: to bring people and cultures closer together through art. More info on the full programme can be found here.

AB will host EUROPALIA ESPAÑA for three days in a row, with (contemporary) flamenco as the focal point. Signed up: electronica meets flamenco act Yeli Yeli & ROMERO (Wednesday 3 December 2025), flamenco legend Lole Montoya or ½ Lole Y Manuel (Thursday 4 December 2025) and Rosalía producer Raül Refree (Friday 5 December 2025).

Lole Montoya: Years of Nuevo Día 50
The now 71-year-old Spanish flamenco singer Lole Montoya was a part of the world famous duo Lole y Manuel, also known as ‘the flower children of flamenco’. Their chillingly stunning debut Nuevo Día (1975) infuriated the old purists at the time. The reason? Montoya’s tormented vocals – the cante jondo, a fixed feature of flamenco – sounded more like an ethereal hymn. For his part, guitarist (and husband) Manuel Molina smuggled electric guitars, drums and even violins into flamenco. Even the lyrics sparked astonishment for being so ‘un-flamenco-like’ and leaning towards the themes of the time: love and nature.

The strict stylish conventions of flamenco received a real reboot thanks to Lole y Manuel and this paved the way for a new, liberated flamenco (nuevo flamenco). That path was also taken by other innovators such as Paco de Lucía and Camarón de la Isla.
Lole y Manuel became the most famous Spanish flamenco duo in the ‘70s and ‘80s, but that stardom slowly faded. Fame didn’t interest them and they didn’t care for media performances. Then in 2004, Montoya was surprised to discover that her song Tu Mirá had been used by Quentin Tarantino in Kill Bill 2. Tu Mirá has now clocked up a million streams.

Lole Montoya continued to perform sporadically, even after the death of her husband in 2015. But her shows were rather small-scale, often passing under the radar and taking place nearby her birthplace Sevilla. In 2022, she made her mark on Le Guess Who? in Utrecht. Oor Magazine wrote of that performance: “Unrivalled. A small miracle. Standing ovation.”

Want to know more?
Marina Herlop on Lole Montoya: Listen/read: Flamenco innovator Lole Montoya: “I would not be able to sing something I’m not feeling”
Lole Montoya in Utrecht, dat is een zeldzaam en niet te missen flamenco-evenement | de Volkskrant
Listen to essential albums Nueva Día (1975) and Al Alba Con Alegría (1980).