José María Velázquez-Gaztelu It's a true institution in Nîmes. In fact, last year it received the City Medal for its contribution to the promotion and dissemination of... flamencoIn this new edition, the Arcos-born communicator has returned once again to the city's Festival to enjoy its program and, incidentally, give a lecture on a subject he knows better than anyone: the legendary series Rite and geography of cante and, more specifically, the presence of the gypsies in this invaluable television document.
There wasn't a free chair in the spacious bar of the Theatre of Nîmes at the scheduled time for the talk. Velazquez-Gaztelu, received by the artistic director of the event and manager of the coliseum, Amélie Casasole, and assisted in translation tasks by Nadia MessaoudiHe began by recalling that 2025 marked six centuries since the first recorded arrival of the Roma in Spain. Specifically, on January 14, 1425, a group of Roma from France, identifying themselves as pilgrims, entered the Zaragoza area. “Theirs is a turbulent and unique history, because it represents the clash of two very different civilizations,” he commented, tracing the community's origins back to India, as documented by philologists. “Their entry into Europe is the crucial moment, as it initiates the process that would change their lives. After centuries of nomadism, they become pilgrims and penitents, seeking redemption.”
Velázquez-Gaztelu depicted their arrival in large caravans, on horseback or on foot, while a whole mythology grew up around them. “Having lived in the open countryside, sustained by natural resources, they suddenly found themselves at the gates of the great European cities. And they disguised themselves as nobles or repentant sinners. When the mask fell, the decrees and persecutory laws began.” The brutal repression of the Roma, the journalist recalled, included all kinds of abuses. “The political and religious authorities were about to launch a veritable persecution, prohibiting them from traveling freely, assembling, wearing certain clothes… and condemning them to forced labor, the galleys, or even the death penalty.”
"Andalusia became a land of promise, a stop along the way that led to a situation of accommodation. Nomadism gradually gave way to a constant settlement. It is the place where the Gypsy finds sufficient reason to stay."
However, the speaker from Cádiz would soon shift his focus to the music that would emerge from the assimilation of that people into the southern territory of the Iberian Peninsula. To illustrate this, he invited the audience to watch a recording of Rite and geography of cante dating from the early 70s, and "which has anthropological value, as it reflects a way of life that possibly no longer exists today," and where the spontaneous performers communicate in a mixture of Portuguese and Caló.
It is not the only audiovisual treasure he shared at this event to illustrate how “Andalusia became a land of promise, a stop along the way that led to a situation of accommodation. Nomadism gradually gave way to a constant settlement. It is the place where the Gypsy finds sufficient reason to stay.”
Likewise, Velázquez-Gaztelu rejected the idea of an origin of flamenco “not as a specific and predetermined circumstance,” but as a process of formation as slow as it is mysterious. “I can see a series of musical styles and rhythms that have gradually come together until they give rise to something we now call flamenco“,” he asserts. “The flamenco It appears as an emanation or blend of different currents, while at the same time Gypsy neighborhoods such as Triana, Santiago and San Miguel in Jerez, or Santa María in Cádiz, are being created.”
The rest of the story is well known. Art slowly became more professionalized so that, by the mid-19th century, we could have such celebrated figures in Spain as Byron, Liszt, Victor Hugo, Gautier, Richard Ford or Stendhal, that “they found some canteAnd dances of people who possessed the mystery of a hidden civilization. The flamenco It begins to manifest itself outside its domestic sphere, and embarks on a journey through the most prestigious stages in the world.” ♦
What a pleasure to read such a chronicle and, above all, to know that José María Velázquez-Gaztelu continues to share his knowledge with that warmth, memory, and truth that only years well lived alongside the flamencoIt's always a privilege to hear him speak about Rite and Geography of cante And of Gypsy history with such clarity and humanity. Thank you for continuing to teach us.