Salamanca's 2015 Ferias y Fiestas - Concerts

September is coming and so are the Ferias and Fiestas! Although the official program hasn't been publicized yet, we already know which artists will hit the stage. Check out some of their songs on our playlist and get to know them, practise your Spanish and start memorizing the lyrics if your are planning on going to their concerts. We'll keep you up-to-date with any news. Meanwhile, see previous entries to get a feeling of what is coming: tapas, street performances, fairground attractions, bullfighting...

Pablo Alborán

After his debut in 2010 with his first single, Solamente tú, Pablo Alborán has won 30 platinum records in Europe, two golden records in America and one in Portugal.

India Martínez

Winner of many prices, in 2015 she received the Goya award for the best song in the movie “El Niño”. She worked with great artists such as David Bisbal, Pitingo or Enrique Iglesias, among others.

Los Secretos

Los Secretos, with influences of the new wave, is considered one of the most important bands in the history of Spanish pop and rock music.

Abraham Mateo

Since the release of hist first album, being just a 10-year-old singer, he has won a platinum record and two golden record sales certifications in Spain.

Ariel Rot

Rock and blues guitar player, singer, composer and music producer. Since his band Los Rodríguez split, the Argentinian undetook a solo career.

Sidonie

The Spanish band Sidonie is characterized by its psychedelic and alternative rock style,  with notable influences by George Harrison, David Bowie o Pink Floyd.

Rosendo

Guitar player, singer and compositor, he is considered one of the most important exponents of Spanish rock.

If you want to listen more by these singers, check out this playlist on Spotify and Youtube:

25 things not to miss when in Salamanca

One can never get bored in Salamanca, there is always something up, something to do, some place, monument, event or food ready to be discovered/enjoyed/tasted. University and touristic, the city is characterized by its incessant and varied cultural and leisure offer. Some students at Tía Tula Spanish School have helped us create a list of things to do in Salamanca before leaving. Among them there are some that we could call typical, but also new and original ones. Every aspect of the city is covered: customs, architecture, culture, leisure, sports, gastronomy...

Watch this video to find out what they suggest (also on Vimeo):

25 must-do things before leaving Salamanca

15 Beatles covers in Spanish

They were among the first ones, alongside with Elvis Presley and The Rolling Stones, to bring together thousands of fans at their concerts, even when that meant queueing for long hours, full of excitement -some fans even ended up fainting. The Beatles (in Spain, 'Los Beatles'), started the fan phenomenon, and theirs was granted its own name: beatlemania.In Spain, despite Franco's regime tried to prevent it from happening until the very last minute, The Beatles performed for the first time in 1965. Just a sign of the enormous success they have since had in our country. Numerous Spanish and Latin American artists have released or performed covers of songs by The Beatles. Here is a Youtube playlist with 15 of those, some better than others (a few are quite surreal):

And here are the artists featured on the playlist, the name of their covers and the name of the corresponding original songs by The Beatles:


Celia Cruz - 'Obladi Oblada'

Los Mustang - 'Please please me'

Los Buitres - 'Love me do'

Los Shippy's - 'Señor Cartero' ('Mr Postman')

Laredo - 'Mirlo' ('Blackbird')

Tin-Tan (Germán Valdés) - 'Quiero rascarme aquí' ('I want to hold your hand')

Los Ángeles - 'La ayuda de la amistad' ('With a little help from my friends')

The Sandpipers - 'Ayer' ('Yesterday')

El Príncipe Gitano - 'Obladi Oblada'

Carmen Sevilla - 'Yellow submarine' 

Juan y los Matemáticos - 'Cuando tenga 64' ('When I'm 64')

Camilo Sesto y Dhario Primero - 'Creo en ti' ('Let it be')

Cuatro Apriori - 'La verdad' ('No reply')

Los Ángeles Azules - 'La vi allá' ('I saw her standing there')

Los Temerarios - 'Voy a perder a esa chica' ('You're gonna lose that girl')

Los Rockets - 'Abrázame' ('Hold me tight')

Alejandra Guzmán - 'Twist y gritos' ('Twist and shout')

Our way. 15 Spanish covers of "My Way"

Numerous artists from around the world have recorded their versions of the classic My Way, from Aretha Franklin to The Strokes, including The Three Tenors, Sid Vicious and Kanye West. The melody comes from a French song (Comme d'habitude), and the lyrics were made up by Paul Anka. But if My Way is associated with an artist, that artist would be Frank Sinatra, who played it for the first time and turned it into one of the most popular songs of all time. As we were saying, a great number of artists have sung it and adapted it to different ryhtms ever since. Many of them in English, but others went further and translated it into other languages. Here are 15 covers of My Way (A mi manera) in Spanish, corresponding to different music genres. You can listen to them on Youtube and Spotify:

These are the artists featured on the playlist: 

Siempre Así | Raphael | Il Divo | Gipsy Kings | Julio Iglesias y Paul Anka | Junco | Los Panchos | La Trova | María Martha Serra Lima | Óscar D'León | Estela Raval | Los del fuego | Rayito Colombiano | Richie Ray y Bobby Cruz | Infierno 18

The lyrics to A mi manera aren't the same in all the covers. These are the lyrics to Raphael's version:

El final se acerca ya,
lo esperaré serenamente. 
Ya ves,  que yo he sido así,
te lo diré, sinceramente.
Viví, la inmensidad
sin conocer jamás fronteras,
y bien, sin descansar, y a mi manera.

Jamás tuve un amor
que para mí fuera importante.
Tomé solo la flor
y lo mejor de cada instante.
Viví y disfruté,
no sé si más que otro cualquiera.
Y, sí, todo esto fue a mi manera.

Porque sabrás que un hombre al fin
conocerás por su vivir.
No hay por qué hablar ni que decir,
ni que llorar ni que fingir,
puedo seguir hasta el final
a mi manera.

Tal vez lloré o tal vez reí,
tal vez gané o tal vez perdí.
Ahora sé que fui feliz,
que si lloré, también amé.
Puedo vivir hasta el final
a mi manera.

Bonus track: two special covers
These are not in Spanish (that's why they are not included in the playlist above), but we love the covers by Los Piratas and Andrés Calamaro:

Music about the Earth and the environment

Today, April 22nd, is Earth Day. Why don't we celebrate with music? Here are 20 songs in Spanish about the planet and the environment. Discover new rythms and artists and keep practising your Spanish. Various genres are represented: pop, hip hop, flamenco, celtic, gospel... there is even a Disney song:

Macaco - Moving
Macaco - Mamá Tierra
Bebe - Ska de la Tierra
Mägo de Oz - La costa del silencio
Mägo de Oz - La venganza de Gaia
Maná - Dónde jugarán los niños
BSO Pocahontas - Colores en el viento
José Mercé - Amapolas de papel
Los Piratas - La canción de la Tierra
Roberto Carlos - El progreso
La Unión - Hermana Tierra
Geronación - El hombre y la Tierra
Bersuit Vergarabat - Madre hay una sola
Marta Sánchez - Amén
Laura Pausini - Hermana Tierra
Melón Diesel - Planeta verde
Antidoping - Planeta
Café Tacvba - El ciclón
Ana Belén - Planeta agua
Alejandro Lerner - Puedes cambiar el mundo

Zumba playlist

As many of you know, Lourdes, one of our Spanish teachers here at Tía Tula, is also a dance and fitness instructor (you can see her in action here). She is a huge fan of Zumba, the high-energy Columbian dance phenomenon that combines aerobics and elements of Salsa, Samba and Reggaeton, among others. We asked her for the perfect Zumba playlist!

Zumba is the perfect work-out, helping you to burn calories, tone muscles, increase co-ordination and improve cardio-vascular fitness - all while dancing to your favorite tracks. What's more, Zumba can help ease tension, reduce stress and put a smile on your face!

Why not have a listen to our Zumba playlist, available on Spotify?

A Youtube playlist is also available, complete with choreographed dance routines. Fancy giving it a try?

 

Click here to see what happened last time Lourdes led a Zumba class at Tía Tula...

If you like the sound of Spanish music we recommend having a listen to our very own Tía Tula playlist, created as part of the UN initiative #HappySoundsLike.

#HappySoundsLike | Happy music in Spanish

Today, March 20th, is the Internationational Day of Happiness and at Tía Tula we have decided to join the UN's #HappySoundsLike initiative by suggesting songs for the playlist created for the occasion by Mix Radio. We have also made up our own playlist especially for you, containing songs in Spanish that make us happy. 

And how do these songs make us happy? By making us dance, putting a smile on our faces, reminding us of good times, making us want to unstoppably sing them at the top of our lungs... We hope you feel the same while you listen to them. The best part? You will practise your Spanish and get a better understanding of our culture.

Tía Tula's #HappySoundsLike playlist is available on Youtube, Spotify and Grooveshark. Choose your medium and follow us to be up-to-date: we will share more music in Spanish.


Youtube

You can listen to the playlist from here or visit Tía Tula's Youtube channel. May we suggest you subscribe so you can be up-to-date on what goes on at the school?

Spotify

If you already have a Spotify account, you can access the playlist from here.