(noticia) The spirit of flamenco is outsourced to India

From Graham Keeley in Barcelona
FLAMENCO is as much a symbol of Spain as bullfighting, paella or rioja. Yet some of the guitars that help to produce the duende, the spirit of flamenco, will no longer be produced on Spanish soil.

One of Spain’s leading makers of flamenco guitars will soon be shipping these handmade instruments back to Spain from India.

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Enrique Keller has been forced to move from its factory in the Basque Country in northern Spain because of competition from China and South Korea.

Keller, which gets 70 per cent of its business from exports, will open a plant in Cochin, on the west coast of India, in May and will begin production of flamenco and classical guitars later in the year.

Faced with rivals whose costs are much lower, the Spanish company — which takes its name from its German founder — has lost 25 per cent of its market share recently. Spanish guitar makers had long dominated the market for flamenco and classical instruments, but now they have given way to the Chinese.

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