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Bucket list experience:

Woman in a blue flamenco dress posing before an ornate stone building in Seville

Book in for a flamenco show – Andalusia is famous for them

Last updated: 10 November, 2022
Expert travel writer: Dana Facaros

Andalusia expresses its passionate soul in the guitars, singing and twirling, stamping steps of its native flamenco – declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2010.

Most scholars believed the seeds of flamenco arrived in the 15th century with the Roma from India. Over the centuries they slowly migrated west with their castanets and tambourines, absorbing songs and dances in the Middle East and North Africa along the way. The Spanish at first considered it a foreign art, or ‘Flemish’ – hence flamenco.

By the 19th century flamenco as we know it emerged – popularized by Bizet’s Carmen – with shows performed in cafés cantantes (singers’ cafés), the forerunners to the modern tablaos. These are intimate venues with small wooden stages, perfect for the exhilarating machine gun-like zapateado (dancing).

You can hear flamenco’s eastern origins in the singer’s cante jondo (‘deep song’), evoking pain, sorrow and joy, while dancers express each emotion with their bodies, driven by the pulsing percussive strumming of the guitars.

A good show, and there are many here, can send chills down your spine with their duende, the ecstatic ‘demon’ spirit that brings listeners out of themselves.

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Price from: £15
Minimum age: Any
Age suitable: 5+
Frequency: daily
When: Daily
Duration: 90 minutes

Getting there & doing it

Always book tickets for a tablao or club in advance, either via an organised tour or on the websites of the clubs. Options usually include a show and a drink or tapas or dinner with a choice of set price menus. Performances run around 90 minutes.

When to do it

Most clubs put on two shows every evening, usually around 7pm and 9pm.

Photo of flamenco dancers feet and bottom of her red dress, on a stage
Experience

Casa de la Memoria

Seville, Andalusia, Spain

Cultural centre (and the most affordable tablao) offering two shows nightly in an intimate setting of a 15th-century house but minus any food and drink. Different styles and artists every night set it apart from the others.

Best for ages: 6+ | £19 | 1 hour

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Overview >
Green stage in a small theatre with a band and flamenco dancer performing on it
Experience

El Palacio Andaluz

Seville, Andalusia, Spain

Large stage in a former Cruzcampo beer pavilion at the Expo of 92 that recreates the decor of the original cafés cantantes, where one of the best-known troupes in Spain puts on shows along with a drink and tapas dinner.

Best for ages: 6+ | £37 | 1 hour

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Tablao El Arenal
Experience

Tablao El Arenal

Seville, Andalusia, Spain

Club in a historic building in of downtown Seville, founded by the great flamenco dancer Curro Velez; it has a solid international reputation, with 17 performers and a truly exceptional display of dancing during its 90-minute show.

Best for ages: 10+ | £34 | 1 hour

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A view of stage and seating at a flamenco venue
Experience

Tablao Los Gallos

Seville, Andalusia, Spain

Going strong since 1966 in a historic house in Plaza Santa Cruz, this is one of the oldest café-style clubs in Seville, with 75-minute performances by a rota of award-winning artists, who put on different shows every day.

Best for ages: 6+ | £30 | 1 hour

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Our selection of the best Viator tours of this attraction or activity

Flamenco Show at Casa de la Memoria Admission Ticket

Flamenco Show at Casa de la Memoria Admission Ticket

Seville

The Best Flamenco show of Seville in a 15th Century House Palace in the historic centre of the city. The most prestigious and important curr...

€22 | Rating 4.59 / 5 [438 ratings]

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Skip the Line: Tablao Flamenco Shores of Triana Ticket

Skip the Line: Tablao Flamenco Shores of Triana Ticket

Seville

"Orillas de Triana" is a flamenco tablao located in the heart of Seville - Triana - the legendary neighborhood, where flamenco ar...

€22 | Rating 4.87 / 5 [71 ratings]

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Skip the line: Tablao Flamenco Andalusí Ticket

Skip the line: Tablao Flamenco Andalusí Ticket

Seville

Flamenco show in one of the oldest and most emblematic neighborhoods of Seville, "The Arenal". Enjoy the performance of local prof...

€22 | Rating 4.60 / 5 [89 ratings]

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Seville: Authentic Flamenco Show - Museo del Baile Flamenco

Seville: Authentic Flamenco Show - Museo del Baile Flamenco

Seville

Discover all the passion and elegance of flamenco dancing in one of the most emblematic places of Seville, in an eighteenth century building...

€25 | Rating 4.70 / 5 [281 ratings]

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Our writer’s picks of the best places to stay near this experience, closest first

Hotel Alfonso XIII

Seville, Andalusia, Spain

Enjoy Seville in regal style at this grand hotel built by a king, a 10-minute walk from the Cathedral.

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Hotel Casa 1800

Seville, Andalusia, Spain

A romantic, evocative, little luxury hotel in an early 19th-century townhouse near Seville’s cathedral, with a panoramic rooftop pool.

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EME Catedral Hotel

Seville, Andalusia, Spain

Super central luxury hotel with the best roof terrace cocktail bar in Seville and matchless views of the Cathedral.

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Hotel Casa del Poeta

Seville, Andalusia, Spain

Boutique luxury and charm await in this evocative 17th-century mansion, in pole position near Seville’s Cathedral, restaurants and bars.

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Destination guides including or relevant to this experience

Andalusia

Andalusia, Spain

A big dazzling region, packed with fascinating cities, beautiful landscapes and beaches, colourful fiestas and oodles of sunshine.

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Seville

Andalusia, Spain

Extravagant and sensuous, Spain’s fourth city entices with brilliant monuments, gardens, tapas bars, flamenco shows and full-on nightlife.

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Overview >