Martín Liñán
Who is Martín Liñán?
Manuel Martín Liñán was born in 1922 in Quéntar, a village in Granada province set in the basin between the Sierra Nevada and the Sierra de Huétor Natural Park, the same year the city hosted the historic Concurso Nacional de Cante Jondo. A non-gitano with no ambition to become a professional guitarist, he made his living through trades far removed from the stage: he worked as a confectioner, played drums in an orchestra and also played the bandurria, besides founding Bodegas Granadinas, one of the city’s first roast-chicken establishments.
Career
Although he never lived off music, flamenco guitar was his true passion, and he put it decisively at the service of Granada’s flamenco community: in 1969 he co-founded the Peña La Platería and served as its first president, and the following year he arranged the purchase of the Albaicín carmen that would become its headquarters, acting practically as the institution’s patron. For the following six years, until 1976, he served as the peña’s accompanying guitarist, playing for cantaores such as Cobitos, Manuel Ávila, Agujetas, Fernanda de Utrera, Chocolate, El Gallina and José Menese.
Legacy
Martín Liñán died in Granada in 1980, having never been a professional guitarist, but he is remembered as one of the most devoted amateurs the instrument ever had in the city, a man who put his time, his money and his commitment at the service of Granada’s flamenco and one of its most beloved institutions, the Peña La Platería.