New flamenco show set to take Majorca by storm

PALMA
TODAY, the Segui family, pioneers in entertaining tourists here in Majorca for decades, is going to unveil a new show which is going to be one of the main events next season.

The curtain on “Pasion Flamenca” (Flamenco Passion” is going to be lifted at the Harlem cafe-concert hall which opened a year ago in El Molinar.
Cristobal Segui, who first opened Son Amar 50 years ago before going on to open the hugely popular La Granja in Es Esporles ahead of heading to the States to open the Medieval Times chain of dinner theatres. They offer dinner featuring staged medieval-style games, sword-fighting, and jousting followed by a tournament. They opened across the United States in 1984. He told the Bulletin yesterday that the show is going to be something new and really authentic.

Harlem has become extremely popular locally for its weekend events of standup comedy and orchestras all aimed at the younger market, but Cristobal and his family wanted something to keep the place, which seats some 120 people, busy during the week.

Having opened La Granja 42 years ago, Segui knows that visitors to Majorca want to experience something traditional albeit Majorca or Spanish.
And, with five decades at the very top of the tourist industry here and in the States behind him, the Segui family believe they have seen a gap in the market. What is more, Cristobal knows that Palma is going to experience its biggest cruise boom ever next year with some of America's largest cruise lines having put Palma high up on their itineraries and he is confident that the show will appeal to the cruise market as well as the traditional tour operators, independent holiday makers and, of course, local residents. “The cruise ships arrive early in the morning and leave later in the afternoon, so, we will be selling them a midday show which will include authentic, traditional tapas for lunch followed by a truly authentic flamenco show with six of the very best male and female dancers from Andalusia,” he explained yesterday. “We have already enjoyed a great deal of interest in the idea, but that said, the results need to be good,” he stressed. “Harlem is busy on Fridays and Saturdays with the comedy shows etc. but during the week we will be able to be flexible with midday and evening flamenco shows, whatever the demand,” he added. “It really is something very special and the spectacle is very good with excellent guitarists and dancers,” he said. “We are in contact with the travel agencies and tour operators and there appears to be a great deal of interest from the Russian market in particular,” he added. “I've been in the industry long enough to know that if we don't evolve, we'll die and anything new like this is always going to benefit Majorca's tourist industry as a whole,” he added. “It's been an average season, no worse than last year, but things are looking more encouraging for the coming season and providing there are plenty of things for visitors to do, places to go, there's no reason why they won't return to Majorca. Tourists are no different from us. They work hard and long for a yearly holiday to relax. “So, we treat them no differently than we would ourselves, with the very maximum level of professionalism and that is exactly what we'll be doing with our new show,” Cristobal Segui stressed.