TABLAO DE CARMEN, A YEAR LATER

AS IF FLAMENCO WERE THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERED, ONE NIGHT IN MARCH OF 2020…

On the afternoon of Thursday March 12th, the Tablao de Carmen opened its doors as it had every night without interruption since November of 1988. Clients entered to dine and enjoy the flamenco on a night that we will never forget. At this point, we already knew the Mobile World Congress, one of the most important conferences in Barcelona, had been cancelled. The devastating effects of Covid 19 were wreaking havoc across the globe, extreme sanitary measures were in place and borders were closing. 

That night we awaited the imminent declaration of a state of alarm, but no one could imagine what was to come. 

The rhythm and sounds of flamenco voices, guitars and “palmas” filled the tablao. It was as though no other reality existed other than flamenco. And as the last clients departed, the managers informed the artists and staff that the few remaining reservations for the following night had been cancelled.

The state of alarm was declared on Saturday the 14th.

RESISTANCE AND TRUST AS TIME PASSES…

You know what came next, a situation of uncertainty that dragged on with no end in sight. The summer passed, as did the autumn, and winter arrived. Day after day we waited to open our doors, but the onset of the pandemic’s second wave quelled all kinds of activity or reopening.

For an entire year, we have remained unable to open our doors to the public, with our team thrown off their old routine. But throughout this time, the tablao has pressed on, clinging to survival in any way possible. With no clients, sufficient aid or source of income, the tablao has suffered.

But our conviction remains to resist with the hopes that we will be able to open once again. Despite not knowing when we will reopen nor how, we press on.

AN HOMAGE TO THE TABLAO’S TEAM. CHANGE AND GRATITUDE.

For the advent of our website in the beginning of 2020, we planned a series of posts for our blog. We rounded up several subjects into a list and dedicated one of the articles to the work team, the critical piece of the tablao’s engine which made it work daily. They all posed for Eva Blanch’s camera before the doors to the locale in Calle Arcos. Laughter, jokes and excitement filled the shoot. 

It is in this spirit that we thank them, the human side of the tablao, a group of people who have pushed The Tablao de Carmen forward in these past few years. This photo is an homage to them.