The Pencho Cros awards once again pay tribute to the three-time winner of the Lámpara Minera, the singer from Unión who has left in the Cante of the Mines, an indelible legacy. And to this end, the Cultural Agenda of the 64th International Festival hosted the presentation of four of these distinctions that continue to recognize the work of disseminating the flamenco and its defense from different areas.
The first to receive it was the Sevillian Antonio Carrion in tribute to his fifty years of guitar mastery. He was only ten years old when he began to make the guitar his companion. Son of the flamenco singer Carrión de Mairena, from whom he learned his first rhythms, he made his first recording just three years later, having been inspired by Melchor de Marchena and Enrique de Melchor throughout this time. To date, he has accompanied the greatest figures of the flamenco, even winning a 2002 Latin Grammy for Best Album Flamenco. All this has made the International Festival of Cante de las Minas wanted to give him this recognition, which the award winner wanted to share "with all the singers with whom I have had the privilege of accompanying over these fifty years, from the youngest to the oldest, because you always learn something from everyone."
"In every setting where my guitar and I meet, this award will be mentioned and will occupy a special place in my house," concluded Carrión, who recalled the values that have accompanied him throughout this time: perseverance, discipline, hours of rehearsal, and respect for all his colleagues.
Two more Pencho Cros went to Granada. Firstly in the hands of Antonio Conde González-Carrascosa, collaborator of expoflamenco, in the Research category. PhD in flamenco, as well as a teacher and fan of this art, has written books such as José López-Cepero, the poet of cante, From Granada, granaínas, Peppermint Bottle y The singing cafés of Granada and other performing arts venues from 1868 to 1939. The latter was published in 2024 and contains a research work, a historical and musical journey from the last third of the XNUMXth century to the end of the first third of the XNUMXth century that compiles the location and programming of flamenco of all these cafes. It includes more than three hundred reviews of performances, including Silverio Franconetti, Antonio Chacón, La Niña de los Peines, Manuel Torres, Cobitos, Fosforito el viejo, Canario Chico, etc., and up to two hundred artists who offered their cante, his dance and his touch to the fans in one of the main cradles of flamenco.
This “generosity of sharing quality research,” as the president of the Foundation pointed out Cante of the Mines, Joaquin Zapata, has made him collect this distinction from the festival of flamenco most important in the world. “My only goal is to spread the word. We all row in the same boat: as fans of flamenco We want to treat it from different perspectives, and the flamenco needs us all to join in,” said Conde, while recalling that “the experiences and memories in the Cante de las Minas are the best I carry in my memory." He took the opportunity to thank the great eminences of flamenco everything they have contributed, "because we young people are on the path to continue adding and rowing in the same direction."
Behind the, Juan Pinilla collected the Pencho Cros for the Dissemination of Flamenco. Singer, columnist, actor, and researcher, he won the Lámpara Minera award in 2007 at just 26 years old, which he considers “the prize that changed my life,” and which he carries with great pride. Since then, he has continued to champion this art form wherever he goes, earning a 2014 Latin Grammy nomination in the category of Best Album. Flamenco, together with Fernando Valverde, for Play with fire, In addition to being named Favorite Son of the Province of Granada and receiving the FAC Journalism and Communication Award in Barcelona in 2017. In addition to this, he has also worked as a literary figure with The voices that did not remain silent: flamenco and revolution y Saramago: the Nobel Prize of the impossible, and his first novel, The colors of the snow, which this year has had its place in this Cultural Agenda.
"My only goal is to spread the word. We're all in the same boat. As fans of flamenco We want to treat it from different perspectives, and the flamenco needs us all to join in. (…) The experiences and memories in the Cante "The Mines are the best I have in my memory" (Antonio Conde)
“From my time in La Unión I especially remember those people who left their mark on me, like Niño Alfonso, for so many anecdotes he told me and the friendship I received from him, or Pencho Cros himself, the maestro Antonio Fernández and the lady of the greats cantes miners Encarnación Fernández”, he recalled. He also stated that this award will go to the showcases of the Peña The Silver Shop, to which it belongs.
The Pencho Cros delivered to Pedro Javier Bernal wanted to recognize his drive for graphic communication within the Foundation Cante of the Mines. Small, as he is known among his colleagues, has held this position for a decade, creating the Festival's creative work and even the poster for the 2020 online edition of the Cante of the Mines, among others.
He was also previously associated with the Festival. In 1998, he served as a cultural supporter for the La Unión City Council, which led him to create designs for the Festival. During this time, he even launched the event's first website.
“The Festival's image over the last ten years reflects its generosity and its hypersensitive ability to understand audiovisual communication,” Zapata stated after presenting the award. Txiki dedicated it to “all those who are unseen” and who work tirelessly to ensure this event runs smoothly, from graphic design colleagues to Foundation staff, sound technicians, and others, as well as to his family. He also wanted to acknowledge the “sincere act” of presenting this award for “valuing the work of a person who is not well-known and who does not attract masses.”
The EFA presents the Silverio Franconetti Awards
Los International Awards of the Flamenco 'Silverio Franconetti' 2025 have once again starred in one of the events on the Cultural Agenda of the International Festival of Cante of the Mines. The call, organized by the School of Flamenco Andalusia (EFA), celebrates its tenth anniversary by continuing its work of recognizing people and institutions that in their different areas project the flamenco, both inside and outside the country.
Your director, Luis Guillermo Cortés Fajardo, has brought to La Unión the 18 winners of this year: Aurora Vargas (honorary award), El Pele (cante), Pepa Montes (dance), Gerardo Núñez (guitar), Gualberto García (instrumentation), Lucía Beltrán (young people flamencos), PF Enrique El Mellizo (peña flamenca), Romualdo Molina (flamenco communication), Justo Robles 'Salao' (flamenco fashion), Javier Osuna (research), Netherlands Biennial (festival flamenco), Juanma Suárez (cinematography), El Cordobés (tablao) flamenco), Ricardo Pachón (record production), Círculo Flamenco from Madrid (flamenco promotion), Manolo Marín (teaching), Juan Valdés (visual arts) and Jaime del Pozo (complete amateur).
The delivery will take place on November 16 in Cádiz, coinciding with World Health Day. Flamenco, and starting with this edition, "they will be traveling throughout the country and even internationally," said its director, who hoped that "one day they will be in the Region of Murcia and held in La Unión."
The EFA's participation in the Festival continued last night with the flamenco 'madrugá' by the School's young talents under the title Heels of the Future.
