Guitarist Manuel Muñoz Alcón, better known as Manolo Sanlúcar, has died this Saturday, August 27 at the age of 78, as sources from the Sanlúcar City Council (Cádiz) have confirmed.
The mayor of Sanlúcar, Víctor Mora, has decreed three days of official mourning in the city, in which the flags will fly at half-staff in all official buildings.
Sources close to the family have told Efe that Manolo Sanlúcar was admitted to the hospital in the neighboring municipality of Jerez de la Frontera, and it was there that he died this afternoon. In September 2021, Manolo Sanlúcar was hospitalized after a multiorgan failure that he finally overcame.
Sanlúcar was one of the figures that has guided the evolution of flamenco guitar from the last half of the 20th century until today. He dedicated fifteen years of his life to building his "audiovisual encyclopedia of flamenco". To do it, in 2013 he left the stage and spent seven years without playing the guitar, not even in private.
Among the recognitions given to the Spanish guitarist and composer are the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts in 2015 and the National Music Award in 2000, in addition to being the Favorite Son of Sanlúcar, where he lived until his death.
His work has also gained international recognition. "I would like to be a messenger for you. My guitar is at the service of my people and wherever my people are, I will be there," he said last May.
