The Final Years of Carmen Amaya: Between the Costa Brava and the Rest of the World
By 1951, Carmen Amaya was already a star both inside and outside Spain. And in her early thirties, when it seemed it might never happen, she met the man who would become her husband: Juan Antonio Agüero, a non-Gypsy flamenco guitarist from Santander, twelve years younger than her. They were married at Santa Mónica Church in Barcelona on October 19. She returned to Somorrostro, the neighborhood where she had grown up and where she had learned to dance. On this occasion, she was accompanied by journalist Sempronio (the pseudonym of Andreu Avel·lí Artís i Tomàs), who wrote a report about the visit for the now-defunct magazine Destino. “Carmen has returned!” the neighbors shouted as they welcomed such an illustrious local figure.
In a 1997 interview included in the RTVE documentary Imprescindibles, journalist Sempronio recalled that unique moment in the history of flamenco and Barcelona: “There was a moment when, leaving all of us behind, she approached the walls, the old surfaces, and touched them, caressing them from top to bottom. It was not merely picturesque for those of us accompanying her — it was deeply moving.” When she saw the poor conditions in which families — mostly Roma — were still living in the shacks where she herself had been raised, she organized a fundraising festival at the Palacio de los Deportes. “Without hesitation” as her biographer Montse Madridejos notes in the documentary.
The Fountain of the Artist from the Neighborhood
That day, during her visit to the Somorrostro of her childhood, another idea emerged — one that would permanently immortalize Carmen’s legacy in the city. The story dates back to the 1930s, when Carmen was about seven years old. A fountain had been built so water could reach the homes, and the children of the neighborhood wanted to name it after “the artist of the neighborhood,” who was already Carmen. “One day I was coming back from work, very late — early in the morning, actually — and I found out about their plan to name the fountain. I broke a bottle of aguardiente, my father, may he rest in peace, started playing the guitar, and I began to dance. All the children surrounded me,” Carmen recounted. They hung letters that read: “Fuente de Carmen Amaya.”
Journalist Sempronio told the story to the mayor at the time, José María de Porcioles. Shortly afterward, a project was launched to build a commemorative fountain in her honor and in tribute to her history, within the broader development of Barcelona’s seafront promenade. To attend the inauguration, Carmen canceled a performance in France. The Carmen Amaya Fountain, depicting five children — two playing guitar and three dancing — is the work of sculptor Rafael Solanic and was inaugurated on February 14, 1959. It is located on Miquel Boera Street, in Barceloneta. “Something will remain in Barcelona to remember this poor little gypsy girl who travels the world doing what she can. But whatever little I do, I do it with pride, carrying the name of Spain and of Barcelona, above all,” Carmen said during the ceremony. That same day, she performed at the Palau de la Música, and the proceeds were donated to the Hospital Asilo de San Rafael. Shortly afterward, in the 1960s, Somorrostro was demolished, and decades later the Olympic Port would be built there for the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.
New and Old Stages, and Even a Gold Record
Returning to the early 1950s, her life as a star continued, performing in major capitals such as Paris and appearing in films on both sides of the Atlantic. Rumors began to circulate that her art was no longer what it had once been. But amid her constant movement — suitcases, ships, and airplanes — she had to return to the continent that had launched her to fame: America.
Accompanied by her husband Juan Antonio Agüero, she toured and performed in California, Canada, and Mexico. It was in Mexico that she reincorporated into her company the king of flamenco guitar, Sabicas, and the woman who was soon to become the queen of castanets, Lucero Tena. Upon returning to Carnegie Hall in New York City, she once again won over audiences — now as a mature and fully established artist. Critic John Martin wrote: “She retains all the former qualities of her dance, but has eliminated everything superfluous, reducing it to its essence.” During those years, in addition to her relentless performance schedule, she found time to record two legendary albums with Sabicas: Queen of the Gypsies (1955) and ¡Flamenco! (1957). The first achieved Gold Record status in the United States. From that same period come the iconic film recordings of Carmen’s footwork opening her dances, where her feet became the central focus of the production — something pioneering in flamenco choreography at that time.
Farewell to the Extraordinary Artist
Carmen returned to Spain in 1961 due to the worsening of her health. She wanted to spend her final years in her country, specifically in Begur, at the farmhouse Mas Pinc, where she could remain close to Barcelona and see the sea, as she wished. Then came the filming of Los Tarantos. Director Francisco Rovira Beleta created an iconic “Gypsy Romeo and Juliet” but the dancer was beginning to show signs of exhaustion, and filming had to be paused several times. They managed to finish the production, and the film was a success: it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1963. The statuette ultimately went to 8½ by Federico Fellini. Carmen only lived to see the trailer, not the completed film. The iconic scene of her tapping her knuckles on the table before finishing with powerful heelwork — the last filmed images of her — became part of flamenco history.
Regarding her health, the renowned urologist Dr. Puigvert closely monitored her condition during those final years. Carmen, who had suffered from kidney disease since childhood, grew increasingly weak and ill. Yet she could not conceive of giving up dancing. She organized a festival in Begur to raise funds for the lighting of the town’s castle. Many attended, knowing it would be her final dance. Among them was Salvador Dalí.
She spent her last weeks at home, in a hospital bed lent to her by Dr. Puigvert. Carmen Amaya passed away on November 19, 1963, at 9:50 a.m. Antonio Gades, one of the most extraordinary figures in the history of flamenco dance and a devoted admirer of Carmen Amaya, went from tablao to tablao in Barcelona asking that they close in mourning. Journalist Sebastián Gasch, who had witnessed her earliest performances in Barcelona’s Barrio Chino, wrote her obituary in Destino: “May the extraordinary, unforgettable artist rest in peace.” She was buried in Begur. In 1972, by the will of her widower, her remains were transferred to the Agüero family mausoleum in the Ciriego Cemetery (Santander).
Juan Antonio Agüero remarried in 1968, to Sunchy Echegaray, a friend of the couple. In 1988, she founded the Tablao de Carmen in tribute to Carmen Amaya, on the very site where Carmen had danced as a child in the Patio del Farolillo at Poble Espanyol in Barcelona.
