Hello fellow travelers,
I've been wanting to share an experience I had solo while visiting Andalusia several months ago.
First, Antequera is a fantastic home base for exploring the region. We stayed at the Parador Antequera, which was comfortable and well situated for enjoying the town after tour hours. It is worth a day of touring itself of the Menga Dolmen (astonishing) and well-preserved historical buildings from many eras.
One evening after my companions had retired (long day in Granada), I walked the three blocks or so into town around 9 p.m. As I was strolling past a church we'd walked past a few days before, I heard music with a real beat. I looked around. It could only be coming from inside the cathedral. I put my ear to the door. Yes! I pushed the massively tall, heavy door open. A man greeted me and gestured to quietly enter. He opened the interior doors to reveal a hip-hop band performing jubilantly on the altar! The five young men in the band sounded phenomenal! I don't speak Spanish but enjoyed the music all the same (and who can understand a lot of hip hop, anyway?). A large crowd was sitting in the pews, smiles all around. The light show added to the experience, which was maybe 20 minutes for me before the lights went up.
I learned that decommissioned churches can be rented for community events in this part of Spain. This is brilliant! The acoustics are serving a quite different purpose than originally intended. It was quite a revelation for me in terms of open-mindedness and embracing today's culture. It's an absolutely gorgeous church. If anyone is interested, I will upload the video and photos.
Happy and safe travels,
Amy