San Miguel, a flamenco barrio

Where it is

Spanish Wikipedia places San Miguel in the Distrito Centro of Jerez de la Frontera and says it began as an arrabal, a suburb outside the walls, on the south-east side of the old wall in the fourteenth century. DeFlamenco's account says it lies on the side of the city facing the Guadalete river. The booking page for the tablao puts La Guarida del Ángel in the heart of San Miguel, close to the Chapel of Angustias.

The church that named it

Spanish Wikipedia calls the church of San Miguel the soul and head of the barrio. It says the church was built on an earlier hermitage, and that Alfonso XI ordered the work in 1340 after the battle of Salado. The church gave its name to the barrio, so the district's identity starts with a building, not with music, and Spanish Wikipedia describes the barrio as central and populous.

The squares

The Spanish Wikipedia article lists the Plaza de las Angustias, the Cruz Vieja and the Capilla de la Yedra among the key points of the barrio, and calls the area a popular, simple triangle. It says the Plazuela has a Gitano spirit. The Barceló travel guide places La Guarida del Ángel next to the Plaza de las Angustias. For a visitor it means the tablao stands close to the squares through which the barrio's history is told.

Why it counts as a flamenco barrio

Jerez's tourist office speaks of the mythical barrios of San Miguel and Santiago, and the booking page for the show calls San Miguel one of the two Gitano neighbourhoods of the city. The Barceló guide says spontaneous singing and dancing happen particularly in San Miguel, Santiago and San Mateo. Spanish Wikipedia adds that San Miguel shares a long flamenco tradition with Santiago. Taken together, the sources agree that this is a district where flamenco is part of ordinary life.

The artists it is linked with

Spanish Wikipedia names Lola Flores, Antonio Chacón, Manuel Torre, La Paquera, María José Santiago and Paco Cepero among San Miguel's notable artists. Pierre Lefranc's DeFlamenco article adds Manuel Molina, Loco Mateo, Diego el Marrurro, Joaquín la Serna and Merced la Serneta. You do not need to know any of these names to enjoy an evening in the barrio, but they explain why the area's reputation is attached to singing in particular.

The sound of San Miguel

Lefranc describes the cante of San Miguel as leaning towards the forceful expression of naked grief, often with a note of revolt or haughtiness, and calls the barrio a nest of individualists. In bulerías, he says, it seems to lean towards the more austere style por soleá, played to be listened to, whereas Santiago deploys dynasties and salvoes of fast rhythm. Those are one writer's observations from 2007, not rules, but they give a listener something to compare.

Read next: Bulerías: Jerez's party rhythm

Santiago next door

DeFlamenco's article describes Santiago as a suburb, an arrabal, that grew on the north side of the walled city with direct access to fertile farmland. It says the Gitano work teams there, the gañanías, sang in the evenings and in bad weather without guitars, and that Santiago's families nurture certain forms in which the cante remains a family heirloom. Among its artists it names Terremoto, José Mercé and Fernando de la Morena. San Miguel, on the south side, is the other half of the pair, and the two are usually discussed together.

Planning a visit

Treat San Miguel as a place to arrive early in and linger in afterwards. The tablao show lasts an hour, and the venue's home page lists a tabanco, El Rincón de Lola, with Jerez wines, tapas and home cooking. The barrio is part of the historic centre, so you can combine the evening with the squares above. The time on your reservation is the only one worth planning around, and it is worth checking again the day before you travel.