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Adios Paco
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Pimientito
Posts: 2481
Joined: Jul. 30 2007
From: Marbella
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 Adios Paco
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The loss of Paco de Lucia this week has been a profound shock to the flamenco world. It was difficult initially to process the sudden news that Paco was no longer with us. It affected me personally in a way that I found unexpected...not because I knew Paco as a friend, but because he unknowingly influenced that path of my whole life, my desire to play flamenco guitar, my choice to move to Spain. Even my friends today are an indirect influence of Pacos life and work. To have had Paco de Lucia as a constant source of inspiration and someone to look to as leading flamenco in new directions has always been a comfort, a knowledge that somewhere in the background Paco was always there expanding the possibilities of the guitar. Since Paco died, this feeling has been ripped from me, and it seems I am not alone. The posts on this forum, the messages on Facebook, the conversations with anyone I know connected to guitar or Flamenco this week have shown that we are all connected by the huge feelings of loss and grief for the life and work of this maestro.
I had been staying in Granada for the Andalucia holiday but when I heard news of the funeral I decided to take a pilgrimage to Algeciras to pay my respects to Paco de Lucia. My intention with this post is to give a first hand account of the occasion and secondly to be hopefully of some comfort to those who could not be here and are struggling with coming to terms with their loss.
I awoke in Granada to a particularly cold and grey day. My journey to the coast was through a rain cloud that had blanketed most of Spain. Algeciras is a busy port town, almost the size of a city by Spanish standards. I arrived around midday and headed towards the town hall near the main plaza. A large 3 meter high photo of Paco had been placed next to the main entrance. There was already a large crowd and TV crews waiting outside the doors of the town hall and it was raining lightly. Almost immediately I bumped into a good friend of mine, a young gypsy player Niño Carmelo who came up and patted my back. “Today we all all orphans” he said. I agreed.
I noticed lots of familiar faces around me. Rafael Riqueni was waiting outside among the crowd. So were some of the Granada flamencos. I realised that this was no ordinary crowd. Half the flamenco world was here. Everyone was shuffling about and waiting until 1.00 for the cermony to start. At that moment some police came out of the town hall and made some space in front of the doors. A silence fell as Pacos coffin was raised shoulder high and came into the street. Someone shouted “Viva, Paco!” and the crowd shout back “ VIVA...VIVA...VIVA!!!” Then everyone started to clap which quickly turned into Bulerias compas. Pacos coffin was walked shoulder high down the street whilst the whole crowd lined on either side of the street clapped bulerias as noisily as possible. It was a very moving moment that made me shed a tear.
As the procession progressed down the street I got caught up with the crowd following behind and was accidentally led in front of the barriers so that I had no choice but to follow the procession and follow Pacos coffin towards the church. As I entered the Plaza Real there was a sea of people clapping and applauding. I was pushed forwards towards the church and at one point I though I would actually be pushed inside but the local police politely organised the crowd and made us wait outside. I bumped into another friend, Malaga guitarist Andres Cansino in the melee. He was visibly upset but pleased to see me. He gave me a hug and his eyes welled up with tears. “Our father is gone” he told me
The mass was long....over an hour and it was raining intermittently outside but everyone stood and waited patiently. Eventually the church bells rang and Pacos coffin was brought shoulder high out of the church and into a waiting silver Mercedes hearse covered in wreaths of white roses and lilies. A police escort and motorcade slowly drove away from the church and towards the cemetery.
The crowd was dispersing and I wanted to get out of the crowded square so I walked away from the crowd and took a back street until I knew I would be roughly in front of the funeral procession. As I turned into the main road I met unexpectedly with the motorcade. The police motorcylcles halted the procession and suddenly Pacos funeral car stopped exactly in front of me. The motorcade was now waiting for the crowd behind to catch up.......and for one brief and very surreal moment, I was almost alone in the street with nothing but Pacos coffin in front of me. I reached out and touched the car and said “Adios, Paco”. Within moments others had caught up and were crossing themselves, touching the car and saying goodbye, many people were openly sobbing in the street. People were taking photos and in my surprise I nearly forgot to take one of the car and coffin in front of me. It was a extremely poignant moment and I remember that I immediately felt happier after I had said goodbye to the man who unknowingly had changed my life.
Paco was laid to rest in the town cemetery and I guess they will build a fitting memorial for him in the next months. For all of us flamencos we will have to face a tomorrow without Paco de Lucia in the world and I think its going to be tough to face that gaping void, but we will never forget his music and his legacy....and that will mean that part of him will always stay alive within us.
Rest in peace Paco.
1st March 2014
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Date Mar. 1 2014 17:11:37
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