We Have a Fresh New Look

As many of you will already know the Andalucia.com homepage has been revamped with a fresh new look for the summer. These changes are part of a major overhaul of the site that is planned to be integrated throughout the rest of the year, which will improve our service to both visitors to the area and residents alike.

It’s not just the design that is changing behind the scenes. Work is also being carried out with the aim of involving our users into more discussions. This will include content updates, such as our freshly written flamenco section and multimedia additions such as video.

See our homepage www.andalucia.com and remember that any suggestions you have to improve our service are always gladly received.

Andalucia.com Welcomes our New Flamenco Specialist

We at Andalucia.com are proud to welcome the newest member of our team, Tony Bryant, who will join us as our new specialist writer on flamenco. Tony’s life has been closely linked with music since an early age. Born in Stockwell, south London, there always seemed to be music in his home. His mother was, in fact, a pianist. Tony began learning the drums at the age of 10 and was influenced by a variety of figures in the rock-and-roll hierarchy.

In 1994, Tony moved to Andalucia where he still lives today. It was on a trip to Seville that Tony had his first encounter with flamenco and it was an event that would change his life. “It was like flamenco was seducing me,” he stated while later recalling the event. The floodgates had opened and Tony began to dedicate much of his life to understanding the roots of this powerful art form. He also tried to delve into the culture that makes this incredible music possible, travelling all over Andalucia and watching some of its greatest artists perform. His adventures are recounted in his first book, Flamenco -- An Englishman’s Passion.

Along with the work that Tony is doing for us here at Andalucia.com, he also is a regular contributor on Onda Cero International Radio with a flamenco show that he co-hosts with Brenda Padilla. Tony is also completing his second book, Flamenco: A Tale of Three Cities, which will be publicly available this summer. Andalucia.com would like to welcome Tony to the team and we are all excited about the insight he will bring to our pages.

Win Tickets to Creamfields Andalucia

Andalucia.com is offering our viewers a chance to win three tickets to the hottest musical event of the summer, Creamfields Andalucia. The festival takes place on August 11 th in Playa de Villacaros, Almeria and it is sure to be a sell-out event. The Prodigy and Basement Jaxx will be joined by 21 other acts for this unforgettable musical happening. Click here to fill out our questionnaire and automatically be entered into the draw. The contest closes July 13th so enter early!

New Editor Joins Team

Andalucia.com is pleased to announce that Owen Thomas has joined its staff as its new Editor.  Owen was born in England and immigrated to Canada at an early age.  He was awarded his Master’s Degree in History from the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada. 

Since then he has published numerous articles in magazines and scholarly journals including Spanish Magazine, The Dictionary of Canadian Biography, and the Canadian cultural magazine, The Word.  Owen has also published a book on Black history in Canada entitled Niagara’s Freedom Trail:  A Guide to African-Canadian History in the Niagara Peninsula and has worked for the Canadian government as a Federal Historian for a number of years before moving to Spain. 

We hope that Owen’s experience and love for all things Spanish will aid us in our ongoing quest to make Andalucia.com your indispensable guide to Andalucia.  We at Andalucia.com welcome him aboard and wish him all the best!

Winner Announced for our Free Calendar Give-Away

We are pleased to announce that Mr Bob Mitchell is the winner of a free Andalucia.com calendar for 2008-2009. Mr. Mitchell will receive his copy of the popular work as soon as it is ready for distribution. Congratulations!