I have learned so much reading already I have fewer questions...Ya right!
Ok family of 4 2 adults 2 teens! Landing in Madrid Monday March 21 have 6 days to get to Malaga. We are renting a car. I figure 3 nights in Madrid, probably in a 2 bedroom apartment (cheaper than hotel for 4), leisurely drive to Granada, side trip to Jaen (thanks to reading on this board) , stay a night in Granada? Then to Sevilla for Good Friday night? Then onto our ultra cheap, too good to pass up timeshare in Malaga. Then back to Madrid for 2 more nights. Total of 2 weeks! Yipee

So here are my questions.
Where would be the best place to see authentic flaminco dancing with teenagers? ie...Madrid, Sevilla, Malaga??? Any names of places would be appreciated!
Are there any bullfights available at this time of year?
My son wants to know if it will be warm enough to swim in the Med. or in the outdoor pools!

Realize these kids will have been to MANY museums in Madrid and every cathedral in between Madrid and Malag! So they will need to unwind, they can only take so much culture!

I am intrested in local art and outdoor markets any help here is appreciated.

I now know to bring peanut butter, the only thing besides dessert he will eat.

I sincerely appreciate any and all help provided! If I have posted this in the wrong forum please put it where it belongs!

Hi isleroyal,
I can't resist replying, although I don't have all the answers to your questions. I'll be traveling around southern Spain with teens myself at the same time you will! We'll be at the coast a few days before you, so if I remember and have access and time, I'll come back here to post the outdoor swimming conditions (my understanding is that it could go either way), and anything else we've discovered/done along the way that's fun for teens. I can tell you that bullfighting season will not have started, but we plan to visit the rings anyway. We hope to catch some flamenco somewhere, but I kind of guessed we would do that in Sevilla , since we'll be there 3 days. You know, you can buy peanut butter there if you go to a health store, called an "herbolario," and ask for "crema de cacahuete" or "mantequilla de cacahuete." It does tend to be the health-food kind - needs stirring and isn't real smooth. I'll bet, though, that your son will find something in Spain he'll enjoy eating besides desserts - the food's just incredibly good!

As a teen myself, I have been to Spain last summer and I will be there for 2 weeks around the same time you will. The best place to see Flamenco dancing is in Granada...there is a place in the arabic part near the alahambra..very cheap and excellent

As it appears that you are going to be in Spain around Easter, you should know that the authentic flamenco performances usually don't take place then, your options are pretty much limited to the somewhat touristy "tablao" performances which can be hit or miss. In Granada you can try the Sacromonte area, "Los Tarantos" does nightly flamenco but as a flamenco myself I have to say you'll be lucky if you see something really good.
Same goes for "Los Gallos" in the Santa Cruz neighborhood in Seville, pricey but they do get good dancers. A word of warning on Good Friday in Seville, the city is packed to the brim so hotel reservations ahead of time are recommended. If you are still in Spain on Easter Sunday, this is the traditional start of the bullfighting season and there will be "toros" in Seville definitely, in pueblos in our nearby part of Spain (the province of Cadiz) They let bulls run loose through the streets of three very interesting and worthwhile villages, Paterna de Ribera, Arcos de la Frontera, and Vejer de la Frontera. Your kids should get a real kick out of that, more so perhaps than a bullfight....

Well after MANY hours on the internet. We have decided not to stay in Sevilla Good Friday. Prices were just way out there! We will be in Madrid for 5 days now and then leisurely drive to Malaga. Planning many "day trips" from there including Sevilla, Granada, Ronda, etc...
My kids would LOVE to see the bulls running! I would too but only from the security of a balcony! Just call me chicken. I am saddened by the news regarding authentic flaminco. This was going to be a highlight for my daughter and I. She has been a dancer for many years.
Please keep the suggestions coming, I will investigate them all!
Thank you for the link to Jerez, it looks like a wonderful place, possibly too far for a day trip from Malaga, but a possibility for an overnighter.

I didn't mean to put you off about the tablao places, it's just that because they cater exclusively to tourists and not to locals, they are not encouraged to maintain high standards, ergo, quality sometimes suffers. I remember a few years ago seeing some of the regular performers from Los Tarantos in Granada, the woman was so drink when she did a half turn she nearly fell off the stage, unfortunately its people like this that give flamenco a bad name. I know a very good male dancer from Jerez who is going to begin dancing regularly in Los Gallos in Seville, and the tablao where he "cut his teeth", La Taberna Flamenca in Jerez, has a pretty decent show with a lot of the local gypsy kids in the neighborhood. You'll definitely get to see something, when you are in Malaga try to find the Peña Juan Breva in the center of town, its a flamenco hang out and though there might not be much going on you never know, the "real" stuff is completely unplanned...On Good Friday in Jerez, the local gypsy women gather in front of the procession of "El Cristo de la Expiracion", and sing and dance Bulerias to the figure of the Christ, unforgettable....Good luck searching!

Berzabuena, thanks for the info on sherry and Flamenco - two of the reasons my wife and I are coming to Spain. We'll keep track of events coming up on this site and will likely be back in touch when we know our schedule better.

Kozmo (and Anna)

I hope this doesn't sound arrogant, but all this stuff about seeing "authentic" flamenco, what does it mean? Do most people really want to see it? The historical essence of flamenco is the song, the singing (cante), the aspect that most non-aficionados don't like because it sounds so strange to the Western musical ear ("tuneless wailing" is one uncomprehending description I've come across). If you manage to get into a real Peña, this is most likely what you´ll get. If you're a tourist and really know nothing about flamenco you´ll probably be looking for a lot of dancing (why not?), with the song reduced to occasional accompaniment, and so the place to go is to a good "tablao" or "flamenco show". If someone cannot tell a Soleá from a Fandango, what is the point of their worrying about "authenticity" (whatever that may be)? Non-show flamenco is participatory and this requires a knowledgeable audience that does not feel inhibited.

In Granada you could try Reina Mora
(Mirador de San Cristóbal, in the Albaicin)
http://www.lingolex.com/reina/
or La Zambra María la Canastera in Sacromonte.

Alternatively, you could go wandering around the bars of Sacromonte at 3 in the morning looking for the "real thing", but I can't really recommend it!

Oye Boqueron

You are absolutely right. 8 or 9 out of the 10 people that do experience the "real thing" won't appreciate it, and may not even know they are seeing something authentic. "authenticity" and competence are also value judgements hotly contested within flamenco circles. But why seek it out? Well, quite frankly, you(as well as I) were once on the outside looking in. Something must have struck you to turn from the unitiated "boquerito" that you once where to the full blown "boqueron" that can distinguish a solea from a fandango. All people with open minds and curiosity will get something out of an authentic performance. And if something in that 'tuneless wailing' strikes a chord that sends tingles down everyone's spines, I'm sure that won't be completely lost, even on the uninitiated.

buen camino amigo

Reply to el Boqueron -

I, for one, hope to see some "authentic" flamenco, as opposed to a homogenized tourist show. I am passionately in love with flamenco music and singing, as well as the dance performance, and am hoping, on my 1st trip to Spain, to be able to find, through informants such as you, or Bezebuena, or other, where to experience some flamenco beyond what is put out for the average tourist. (I would not feel inhibited, except by my own inexperience, from being part of a flamenco gathering.)

My husband, Kozmo, and I are planning to be in Spain in the 2nd half of September, starting in MAdrid, driving through Rioja to the Basque country, then through Galacia, down through Portugal, back to Madrid, and then, we will head to Andalucia to drink sherry,eat seafood,and hopefully experience flamenco, before heading to Morocco.

Any recommendations for good food, wine, music and dance?

Anna (of Anna and Kozmo)