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International Festival of Mining Songs

La Unión, Campo de Cartagena, Murcia

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International Festival of Mining Songs

Activity · La Unión, Campo de Cartagena, Murcia

The Festival Internacional del Cante de las Minas, the oldest flamenco competition dedicated to mining song, has been held in La Unión since its first edition on 13 October 1961, driven by the singer Juanito Valderrama and mayor Esteban Bernal. Born as a singing contest, it added a guitar section in the 1980s, a dance section in the 1990s and, since 2009, a fourth section for instrumentalists; it has been held at the old public market since 1978 and awards the Lámpara Minera as its prize. It commemorates the cantes minero-levantinos that arose in the 19th century in the Sierra Minera de Cartagena-La Unión, among miners who were mostly Andalusian. Declared of national tourist interest in 1984, it has programmed galas with Camarón and Paco de Lucía, and has brought singers such as Miguel Poveda to wider attention.

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Photo: Juan Sáez (CC BY-SA 2.0)

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