Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 has produced a great variety of rock and roll

Rock and roll

Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

.

There have also been a number of acts who have incorporated the Celtic music

Celtic music

Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...

al heritage of that region into Celtic rock

Celtic rock

Celtic rock is a genre of folk rock and a form of Celtic fusion which incorporates Celtic music, instrumentation and themes into a rock music context...

 sung in Spanish, like Celtas Cortos

Celtas Cortos

Celtas Cortos is a Spanish music group of celtic rock.It was formed in Valladolid in 1986. Eight friends, four of which played in the group Almenara decided to participate in a music contest under the name "Colectivo Eurofolk"...

.

Spain's largest and oldest rock music scene is in Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

 and Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

. There are also large rock scenes in the large cities of the Basque Country

Basque Country (autonomous community)

The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....

 such as Bilbao

Bilbao

Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...

 and San Sebastián

San Sebastián

Donostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...

, and in Valencia, but bands and venues exist throughout the country.

New groups were born, adopting a punk style and composing songs about concrete concepts. More modern groups like Marea

Marea (band)

Marea is a Spanish rock band from Berriozar, Navarre formed in 1997 by Kutxi Romero. So far they have released five studio albums, a collection boxset and a live record.-History:...

, La Fuga

La Fuga

La Fuga is an Argentine 2001 film directed by Eduardo Mignogna.The picture stars Mignogna's friend and frequent collaborator, Ricardo Darin, as well as Miguel Angel Sola, Gerardo Romano, Patricio Contreras, Ines Estevez, Alejandro Awada and Norma Aleandro.-Plot:In the summer of 1928, seven inmates...

, Mägo de Oz

Mägo de Oz

Mägo de Oz is a Spanish folk/heavy metal band from Begoña, Madrid formed in mid-1988 by drummer Txus di Fellatio. In 1992, the band were finalists in the Villa de Madrid contest. Then, they went onto achieve great success in Spain, and in 1995, were declared Revolution Rock Band...

, Platero y Tú

Platero y Tú

Platero y Tú was a Spanish rock band founded in Bilbao in the 1980s, and disbanded in 2001. Their lyrics speak mainly of drugs, bar issues and love, and their style, being mainly influenced by bands like Status Quo or Leño, and guitarists like John Fogerty from Creedence Clearwater Revival, broke...

, Extremoduro

Extremoduro

Extremoduro is a Spanish rock band from Plasencia, Extremadura. The band is led by Roberto Iniesta, also known as "Robe", who is often referred as "El rey de Extremadura" ....

, Reincidentes

Reincidentes

-Members:*Manuel J. Pizarro Fernández: drums.*Fernando Madina Pepper: bass and vocals.*Juan M. Rodríguez Barea: guitar and vocals.*Finito de Badajoz: guitar and vocals.-Discography:*Reincidentes. Discos Trilita, 1989, reedited by Discos Suicidas....

, Los Rodríguez

Los Rodríguez

Los Rodríguez was a rock band composed by two Argentines and two Spaniards, that played during the 90's.-History:The group was born in 1990 when Ariel Rot and Julián Infante joined Andrés Calamaro, from the band Los Abuelos de la Nada, and Germán Vilella...

, the classic band Héroes del Silencio

Héroes del Silencio

Héroes del Silencio was a Spanish rock band from Zaragoza, Aragón, Spain, formed by Juan Valdivia and Enrique Bunbury. During the 1990s they experienced success around Spain and the Americas, and in various European countries including Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, France, Serbia and Portugal...

, and other mixed styles with ska (Ska-P

Ska-P

Ska-P is a ska punk band formed in , Spain, in 1994.The band can be categorized, politically, as an anti-establishment musical group. It is one of the most popular ska bands in Spain, Europe, and Latin America....

) are the most popular. Other worldwide famous Spanish rock bands are Illegales which had their greatest period in the eighties. Bands like Radio Futura

Radio Futura

Radio Futura was a Spanish pop rock group. They rose to become one of the most popular bands in Spain during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1989 they were voted the best Spanish act of the 80s.-The beginnings:...

 introduced the concept of latin rock in Spain and, by association, in Europe.

Lately, there has been a rise in more pop oriented bands from all over Spain such as La Oreja de Van Gogh

La Oreja de Van Gogh

La Oreja de Van Gogh is a Latin Grammy-winning and Grammy-nominated Spanish pop band from Donostia-San Sebastian. The name of the band refers to the famous post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh who cut off the lobe of his own ear...

 who hail from San Sebastian in Northern Spain, or Amaral

Amaral

-Meaning:*Amaral, a common surname of toponymic origin in the Portuguese language, namely in Portugal and Brazil, amongst others.-People:*Aguida Amaral, East Timorian runner.*Carlos do Amaral Freire, Brazilian scholar, linguist and translator....

 from Zaragoza

Zaragoza

Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...

 and Fito & Fitipaldis

Fito & Fitipaldis

Fito & Fitipaldis is a Spanish band, formed in 1998. It was created by Fito Cabrales with the intention of publishing songs which were not in the style of his other band, Platero y Tú...

 also from the Basque Country, among others, have incorporated several different genres into their pop-rock musical structure.

Since the late 1980s there have also been quite a few rock bands singing in the other languages spoken in Spain

Languages of Spain

The languages of Spain are the languages spoken or once spoken in Spain. Romance languages are the most widely spoken in Spain, of which Spanish is the country's official language...

. The most important such scene being Rock català

Rock català

The term Rock català is used to describe those bands singing in Catalan of any music style, especially in the late 1980s and early 1990s.The last years of Spain under Franco were shattered by a generation of singers that claimed and called for democracy...

, sung in Catalan

Catalan language

Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...

. Also Euskal Herriko Rock is important, with a lot a groups that sing in Basque

Basque language

Basque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories...

, like Gatibu or Ken Zazpi.

Also, flamenco-rock is a fusion of flamenco

Flamenco

Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....

 with progressive rock

Progressive rock

Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...

. Some of the most well-known examples of this scene from its 1970s heyday are the bands Smash

Smash (band)

Smash are a punk rock trio who enjoyed brief notoriety in the early 1990s in the UK. Smash was formed by Ed Borrie , Salvatore Alessi , and Rob Hague in Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, England.-Career:The band's sound recalled the late 1970s and early 1980s punk and New Wave bands...

, Crack, Gotic (Escenes, 1977), Iman Califato Independiente (Iman Califato Independiente), Iceberg (Coses Nostres), Mezquita

Mezquita (band)

Mezquita were a Spanish rock band famous for having released Recuerdos de mi tierra . The , having rated more than 700 Spanish records, currently holds it as one of the top three Spanish records ever released...

 and Triana

Triana (band)

Triana was a Spanish progressive rock band from the 70's and early 80's, heavily influenced by flamenco, hailing from Andalusia. It was composed of Jesús de la Rosa Luque , Eduardo Rodríguez Rodway and Juan José Palacios "Tele" .-History:The main goal of the band was to...

.