It is difficult for a woman like Lola Flores to fade from the collective memory no matter how much time passes. And it is that the guinea fowl, That on January 21 she would have turned 100, although she used to take five out of habit, she left a cultural, artistic and cinematographic legacy that is difficult to match, to which must be added her overwhelming personality. Definitively, a woman of arms to take that already from almost the most tender childhood she knew what she wanted in this life: to be the Lola of Spain.
But her existence was not easy despite the fact that her success reached heights never seen for an artist in that black and white Spain, where any appearance of fire girl, as she was also known, she was followed by the entire nation.
Then came the times of wine and roses, appearances on television, show business, weddings, his Lerele -his residence in Madrid’s La Moraleja- and his second glory.
But in the end the ailments and diseases weigh, and also the pain. And the breast cancer that she had lived with since 1972 ended her life in 1995. And that she almost never spoke of it, that she overcame any setback and that she was a true resistance to a scourge that was consuming her. It is said that she underwent chemotherapy sessions and wore wigs to hide her baldness and that, despite her fatigue and pain, she never failed a performance.
against the elements
No one would have imagined that in those 20s and 30s of the last century, Dolores Flores Ruiz (Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz, 1923- Madrid, 1995) would fight against all the elements and value her art until she achieved the desired success. .
The guinea fowl He grew up in a humble family. His father, who was a bartender, ran the bar The Lions in one of the most famous gypsy neighborhoods in Jerez and she, although she was not a gypsy, soaked up all the magic of her customs and culture in a festive atmosphere and singing.
In fact, little Lola could already be seen when she was only two years old up on the tables of her father’s establishment dancing bulerías.
Such was her school, that of the street and that of her neighborhood, that at the age of 10 she was already singing and dancing in the establishments of Jerez and five years later she was part of the Mary Paz variety company.
But the differentiating act that transformed Dolores Flores into Lola Flores was her transfer to Madrid. It is not very well known how, but the girl, at only 17 years old, managed to convince her father and her entire family to emigrate to the capital of Spain so that she could follow a supposedly meteoric career. Fact that was later confirmed.
The life of The guinea fowl in Madrid he was brilliant, first he started with small roles to end up touring the world with his art.
At the beginning of the 40s, he already premiered with a couple of little roles in the cinema in Martingala y A stop along the waywhile recording his first album with his most popular song Lere.
His admiration for Pastora Imperio led him to meet important figures in song such as Estrellita Castro or maestro Manuel López-Quiroga. But her most important encounter was when she met Manolo Caracol, who hired her in her company.
Together with him, with whom he maintained a professional and passionate relationship despite their 20-year difference, he took the musical throughout Spain zambra and made the movie haunting.
The big jump
The great qualitative advance took place in the 50s, when Lola Flores toured America, making films as popular as The guinea fowlname with which he stayed forever, in addition to many others such as Pena, penita, pena, Alms of loves, Dreams of gold o maricruz and increases his repertoire exponentially. Since then it is his famous The blackberry.
It was in that golden decade when the whirlwind of colors married the guitarist and creator of the Catalan rumba Antonio González, the Pescailla with whom he had three children: Lolita, Rosario and Antonio.
From the 1960s until her death, Lola Flores’s appearances decreased, although she continued to keep the bar very high. She did theater shows, movies and even series.
The guinea fowl Nor did she escape the clutches of the Treasury and in 1987 the artist faced a crime for not presenting the declaration of four years for which they demanded 145 million pesetas. In the end she paid a fine of 28 million.
Lola Flores ended her days on her beloved farm in Lere, victim of a tumor that had suffered for a quarter of a century. That May 16, 1995, numerous people waited in the streets of Madrid for the passage of the coffin, singing The blackberry. The saddest thing was that his beloved son Antonio could not bear the loss and was found dead at the age of 33 in the family home, due to an overdose of barbiturates and alcohol.
