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UNESCO included “Bolero” music, which constitutes one of the prominent cultural symbols of the Cuban and Mexican communities, as one of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity on Tuesday. Bolero music is a way to express emotions and feelings through singing. Cuban singer Migdalia Hechavarría says: “It is vibrant music,” according to Agence France-Presse.

Inside her home in Havana, the 82-year-old singer, who has devoted 60 years of her life to the romantic songs that Cuba and Mexico are famous for, celebrates the good news by performing “Me faltabas tu,” one of her favorite songs. With her influential voice, Migdalia performs bolero songs in several countries, including Colombia, Mexico and Spain, and sings alongside bolero stars such as Omara Portuondo and Celia Cruz.

Hechavarria says, “Bolero is a calm and beautiful feeling and music that people enjoy. It allows those who want to fall in love to do so freely, and allows those who want to give a kiss to do so.”

Although the island is famous for musical genres such as sono and rumba, bolero music is also widespread. The song “Dos Gardenias” has achieved international fame since the success of the “Buena Vista Social Club” band.

Pedro Luis Carrillo (52 years old), who plays a percussion instrument, has been performing bolero music on the Malecón for 30 years, and he is always amazed by the “feelings” and “sensations” that “this amazing music” arouses in the hearts of tourists in Cuba.

Since 1987, Cuba has organized a Bolero music festival. In 2001, about 600 Cuban and foreign artists performed classic songs in the style of “Dos Gardenias” and “Solamente Una Viz” for 76 consecutive hours, setting a record in this regard.

It is noteworthy that bolero music originated in Santiago de Cuba, in the southeast of the island, during the end of the nineteenth century with “Tristesa” by singer Pepe Sanchez, before it reached neighboring Mexico.

In 1932, the Mexican Consuelo Velasquez, known as Consoleto, wrote “Besama Mocho,” the most famous bolero song in the world, and Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, and the Beatles sang it again in their voices.

The Golden Age of Mexican Cinema (1940-1960) played a role in the spread of this musical genre in Latin America, with actor Pedro Infante and singer-songwriter Agustín Lara. Cuban bolero singers such as Benny Mori and Rita Montana achieved successful careers in Mexico, while three-member bands, including Los Panchos, achieved international fame.

The two countries jointly submitted a request to include the Bolero among the Intangible Heritage of Humanity. Mexico City and Havana define bolero music as “identity, feeling and poetry in songs,” and “an integral part of emotional song.”

In one of the famous bars in Mexico City, Jose Antonio Ferrari (72 years old) performs the song “Sapor a Me.” The player of the “ricinto” instrument (a type of guitar) told Agence France-Presse, “Bolero is music that arouses very personal feelings in people.”

Cuban bolero singer Leo Vera (57 years old) believes that including this musical genre among the intangible heritage of humanity comes at the right time in terms of making this genre, which represents “magic and love, popular and contemporary again.”

In Mexico, Ferrari notes that most of the musicians who sing the bolero genre are over 60 years old, as is the case in Cuba. He says: “As long as love and abstention from it exist, beautiful things like bolero music will remain.”