Paco de Lucia, a man who turned flamenco into magic, died

“The great pinch of the guitar of Paco de Lucía fell silent. The flamenco performer has died in Mexico at age 66 , according to sources of his entourage and the City of Algeciras (Cádiz ) , his hometown and whose port profile will be forever associated with his inimitable sound with the six strings . De Lucia was playing with his grandchildren on a beach in Tulum, where he owned a house, when suddenly felt unwell, according to a close friend of the musician, Victorian Mera . The artist died of a heart attack on the way to the hospital, “El País newspaper this reported morning.

Paco lived for years in Palma de Mallorca, after passing through places like the Yucatan or Toledo, where he was seldom seen with an irresistible mix of bonhomie and imprisonment. Those who knew him in Mallorca remember him with a certain allergy to the guitar, which he stopped playing for a while, wanting to share time with ordinary people, out of the artistic and intellectual coteries and dedicated to his two young children.

After 26 years without visiting Cuba, Paco de Lucia had come last October to Havana as a guest at the V Leo Brouwer Festival of Chamber Music. During his visit, which marked the beginning of a tour of America, the Spanish musician received the 2013 International CUBADISCO Award.

Cubans remember him playing guitar at the Karl Marx Theater where Paco offer a spectacular concert. In those days, Leo Brouwer said “Having Paco to agree to come to Cuba to participate in our Festival is something that fills us with pride, because he transformed flamenco into magic, in transcendent history and developed it to the contemporary. Paco is a genius. When I think about him, I am reminded of a story that illustrates who he is. Imagine that there are two men walking very fast because both need to get somewhere, and one walks looking at the floor for fear of stumbling and gets there. Indeed sweaty, but he arrives… And the other one is on the same spot, looking to the right because he sees a mockingbird and smiles, keeps walking, sees to the left one road of palm trees and looks, he is ecstatic and arrives first. That’s Paco de Lucia. I think that explaining with plain words who and what he means for the culture, is not worth it. He’s an awesome guy, a man who has transformed and is transforming a century of great music in his country and in his genre”

Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of Cadiz and the Berkley College of Music, the jury of the Prince of Asturias Awards recognized him for his “interpretive honesty” and his ability to transcend “borders and styles” that made him “a musician of universal dimension “.”Everything that can be expressed with the six strings of the guitar is in his hands,” the ruling reads.

The City of Algeciras, which has decreed three days of official mourning, is making efforts, along with his family, to facilitate the possible repatriation of the body.