The LXIV Festival of Cante de las Minas opens its call for competitions with great news
The festival premieres the Mariano Conde Guitar Award in which young promises of the flamenco, aged between 16 and 25, will compete for a masterpiece of lutherie, forging the future of the game flamenco.
The Union, April 22, 2025
La Fundación Cante of the Mines has officially opened the call for applications for its competitions 64th edition, which will make La Unión the world capital of flamenco of the 30 from July to 9 from August of 2025. Artists may register until 1 June in the modalities of cante, guitar and dance, while the deadline for instrumentalists flamencos will extend until the July 1th.
Any artist of the genre, whether professional or not, can participate in the competition, as long as they have not won any of the top awards in previous editions. Those selected will face one of the selective tests which will be held throughout the country over the coming months, and from these, the semi-finalists will be selected, who will meet in La Unión on August 6, 7, and 8. The Grand Final of the competitions will take place on Saturday the 9th, revealing the new names who will win the trophies. 'Miner's Lamp' (highest award in the category of cante flamenco which includes the cash prize of €15000),'Mining Staff' (highest award in the flamenco guitar category),'Snub' (highest award in the dance category, both male and female) and 'Filo' (highest award in the instrumentalists category) flamencos).
AWARDS IN THE CATEGORY OF CANTE FLAMENCO
Miner's Lamp Award, which will include the awarding of the trophy of this name, an award
maximum of the Festival, and will be endowed with the amount of fifteen thousand euros (€15.000).
Single prize of Cartagena gifted with three thousand euros (€3.000). Single prize of Tarantas gifted with three thousand euros (€3.000). Single prize of Murcianas and others cantes miners (taranto, levantica, fandango minero, cantes early morning…), endowed with the amount of three thousand euros (€3.000).
Single prize for the Cantes of Malaga, Granada, Cordoba and Huelva, and others cantes derived from the Andalusian Fandango (malagueña, granaína and media granaína, fandangos from Granada, Huelva and Lucena, verdiales, rondeñas, jaberas, jabegotes and other types of regional or local fandangos, of proven significance in the context flamenco) endowed with the amount of three thousand euros (€3.000).
In the category of Cantes lower Andalusians, contestants will be able to opt for a single prize for tonás, siguiriyas, soleares, bulerías por soleá, cañas, polos, livianas and serranas, endowed with the amount of two thousand euros (€2.000), in addition to another unique prize, endowed with the amount of two thousand euros (€2.000), for those participants who choose cantes such as Bulerías, cantiñas, tangos, tientos, peteneras, farrucas, personal fandangos and, where appropriate, other forms of cante proposals by the contestants, whose classification within this section is considered pertinent by the judging panel.
Finally, those contestants who, at the time of the start of the contest, had not reached the age of 25 years, and not having won in any of the aforementioned categories, will opt for the Special Award for Young Singers endowed with the amount of two thousand euros (€2.000).
AWARDS IN THE FLAMENCO GUITAR CATEGORY
In the guitar category, participants will be eligible for the following prizes:
First Prize for Guitar, endowed with the amount of six thousand euros (€6.000) and, where applicable, the trophy'Mining Staff, to the best guitarist, according to the jury's criteria.
Second Prize for Guitar, endowed with the amount of two thousand euros (€2.000) and diploma
supporting.
AWARDS IN THE DANCE CATEGORY FLAMENCO
In the dance category, participants will be eligible for the following prizes:
First Prize for Dance, endowed with the amount of six thousand euros (€6.000) and, where applicable, the trophy''Snub', to the best dancer, according to the jury's criteria.
Second Prize for Dance, endowed with the amount of two thousand euros (€2.000) and diploma
supporting.
AWARDS IN THE INSTRUMENTALIST CATEGORY FLAMENCO
In the instrumentalist category flamenco, participants will be eligible for the following prizes:
First Prize for Instrumentalist, endowed with the amount of six thousand euros (€6.000) and, where applicable, the trophy'Filon', to the best instrumentalist, according to the jury's criteria.
Second Prize for Instrumentalist, endowed with the amount of two thousand euros (€2.000) and accreditation diploma.
SPECIAL JURY AWARD
The jury may award a special prize to the best accompanying artist in the dance and instrumentalist competitions, endowed with the amount of one thousand euros (€1.000).
NEW: 'MARIANO CONDE' GUITAR AWARD
El Mariano Conde Guitar Award bursts into the LXIV edition of the International Festival of Cante de las Minas as a bridge between the artisan tradition and the new generations of flamencoMariano Conde, luthier to workshop in Madrid since 1915 and recognized worldwide for the excellence of its guitars —the newspaper El País He defined them as "the Stradivarius of the flamenco»—, allies itself with the contest to reward talents of 16 to 25 years (in any of the competition categories) that demonstrate "technical excellence and soul in the touch", offering one of their magnificent guitars, with that brilliant sound characteristic of the firm, valued at more than four thousand euros.
FROM CARBIDE TO THE SPOTLIGHTS: HOW THE UNION WROTE THE MOST BRILLIANT CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY OF THE FLAMENCO
El International Festival of Cante of the Mines was born in 1961 en The Union (Murcia), epicenter of Spanish mining in the 19th century, where the cantes of the mines (Cartageneras, Tarantas, Murcianas) emerged as a lament of the workers in the face of the harshness of the subsoil. Cantes Mineros y de Levante, originated by the massive migratory flows that throughout the 2010th century constituted large demographic and urban concentrations in the mining districts of Linares-La Carolina, Almería and the Sierras de Gador, and the Sierra de Cartagena-La Unión, were declared an Asset of Cultural Interest of an intangible nature in XNUMX. Its first edition, promoted by a group of neighbors passionate defenders of the traditions of La Unión, and the City Council itself, sought to prevent these unique tonás from falling into oblivion. The Mining Lamp, the trophy symbol of the festival, was inspired by the carbide lamps that illuminated the galleries, and today is considered the «Nobel Prize of the flamenco».
The competition is the reason for the existence of what is considered the 'best Festival of flamenco of the world', a benchmark in the genre thanks to the prestige it has earned throughout its career. Its boards have featured winners such as Pencho Cros, Pitingo, Mayte Martín, Miguel Poveda, Rocío Márquez, Miguel de Tena, Juan Habichuela 'Nieto', Ricardo Fernández del Moral, Patricia Guerrero, Lucía 'La Piñona', Eduardo Guerrero, Alba Heredia, Abdón Alcaráz, Borja Évora, Sergio de Lope and Jesús Corbacho, among many others.
