Spain from A to Z

Traditional Carnival in Verín, Ourense.

PERFORMING ARTS FESTIVALS Many summer festivals are devoted to different art forms. For example, the program for Santander’s International Festival (Cantabria) combines dance, music and classical and modern theatre. This is also the case of the Grec Festival in Barcelona. Another popular initiative in Madrid is the Veranos de la Villa festival, which also includes film and Zarzuela (a kind of operetta) on its agenda. And of course we have Andalusia, with the Granada Festival of Music and Dance, which takes place in the surroundings of the Alhambra, the Generalife and the Albaycín, declared by the UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage - an extraordinary setting for dance, music and flamenco.

JAZZ NIGHTS Jazz aficionados visiting in July will get their money’s worth in practically every region. Here are just a few examples: the Pontevedra International Jazz and Blues Festival in Galicia; the Getxo, Vitoria-Gasteiz and San Sebastián Jazz Festivals in the Basque Country, the jazz festival held in the Palace of Music in Valencia; the San Javier Jazz Festival in Murcia; and Jazz y Más in the Canary Islands. FILM FESTIVALS These events are of exceptional importance, as they both furnish an opportunity to judge the projected films and provide recognition for the professional performance of all involved. Of interest in international film circles are the San Sebastián International Film Festival, the Valladolid International Film Week (Seminci), the Sitges Science Fiction Film Festival in the province of Barcelona, the Black Week in Gijón, and

weeks in San Sebastian in the Basque Country is of particular relevance, with opera, classical ballet and symphony concerts on the agenda. The Murcia region hosts the famous Cante de las Minas International Flamenco Festival, a must for all flamenco fans. Also in Murcia is the La Mar de Músicas festival focusing on folk music, with a different country featured each year. We find a similar concept at the International Festival of Torroella de Montgrí in Girona (Catalonia). This music festival combines classical and world music, which are also present at festivals such as the Pyrenees Folk Festival and the Pirineos Sur festival, both in Aragón, the Celtic World festival in Galicia, and Etnosur in Andalusia. The region of Andalusia offers one of the most outstanding concert series of the summer: the Córdoba Guitar Festival. The event is Spanish through and through, as the guitar is always the focus of classical, flamenco, rock and blues concerts.

MUSIC FESTIVALS In many cities in Spain,

classical music concerts take place on summer evenings. The Quincena Musical music