“Granada is part of my skin, my eyes, my hair, my singing, my food, my children, my parents… I will always return to Granada.”
— Estrella Morente

There are many ways to speak about Granada. You can describe its palaces and its mountain light, its steep cobbled streets, its orchards scented with orange blossom, or the soft rumble of flamenco that seems to rise at dusk from hidden courtyards. But perhaps the most authentic way to understand Granada is through the voices of its artists—those who have shaped the sound and soul of the city for generations.

Among these artists, Estrella Morente stands like a luminous peak in the Sierra Nevada: unmistakably rooted, yet soaring far beyond her birthplace. The woman at the top of today’s newsletter is not merely a flamenco singer; she is one of Granada’s living cultural icons, a bearer of centuries of history and emotion that continue to shape the city’s identity.

For those of us who explore Granada on foot or by bike, her voice is a reminder that landscapes are not just made of stone and earth—they are also made of memory, music, and people.

A Childhood Born from Duende

Born in 1980 into one of Spain’s most celebrated flamenco dynasties, Estrella did not simply grow up around art—she lived inside it. Her father, the legendary singer Enrique Morente, was known for his innovative flamenco style, blending traditional cante jondo with poetry, rock, and experimentation. Her mother, Aurora Carbonell, is an accomplished flamenco dancer whose physical storytelling helped shape Estrella’s performance sensibility.

For many families, flamenco is a profession. For the Morentes, it is a lineage, an atmosphere, a way of being in the world. As Estrella often recalls, for her, singing was as natural as breathing. Cante came to her not as a technique to be mastered but as an emotion to inherit.

Walking through Granada today—past Sacromonte’s whitewashed caves where flamenco first flourished among Roma communities, or through the Albaicín’s labyrinth of narrow alleyways—it’s easy to imagine the environment that shaped her. Children playing guitar chords in the plaza, mothers humming old verses while preparing lunch, elders tapping their canes in rhythm on the pavement… Granada is a place where music is not a spectacle but a shared language.

The Voice That Carries a City

Estrella’s voice has often been described as cálida—warm, rich, full of earthy tones—but what truly distinguishes her is her emotional depth. She sings with duende, that untranslatable Spanish word for the soul’s dark luminosity in flamenco, the thing that makes a performance feel like a confession.

Her international rise began early. By her twenties she was already touring worldwide, releasing albums that received both critical acclaim and national awards. Yet even as her fame grew, she never detached herself from the roots of her craft. When she sings, you hear Granada: the laments of its history, the joy of its festivals, the echo of centuries-old songs that climb the city’s hills like ivy.

Perhaps one of the most well-known examples of her global reach came in 2006, when director Pedro Almodóvar selected her to sing the haunting theme “Volver” for his award-winning film of the same name. On screen, we see Penélope Cruz singing—but the soul in the voice belongs to Estrella. Her interpretation of “Volver” is both delicate and devastating, carrying the melancholy of returning to one’s origins, a theme that resonates deeply with Granada’s endless cycles of departure and return.

More recently, a new generation of listeners discovered Estrella through her collaboration with global superstar Rosalía, who invited her to perform on the track “La Rumba del Perdón” in her acclaimed album Luz. It is a meeting of eras—traditional flamenco mastery merging with contemporary experimentation. Yet again, Estrella’s voice stands out like an ancient bell ringing in a modern cathedral.

Granada: A City Etched into Her Being

What is it about Granada that inspires such devotion? For Estrella, the city is not just a birthplace but a living presence within her, a pulse she carries everywhere she goes.

Her quote—“Granada is part of my skin, my eyes, my hair…”—captures something essential about this region: Granada isn’t a place you simply visit. It marks you. It lingers. And whether you leave for a month or a decade, something inside pulls you back.

As travelers, hikers, and cyclists, we experience that pull too.

Granada is a city of contrasts. The monumental Alhambra rises calmly above a city center full of lively cafés and tapas bars. The snow-capped Sierra Nevada stands in the distance like a white guardian, yet the warm Mediterranean coast lies only an hour away. The Albaicín glows golden at sunset, while Sacromonte flickers with the light of evening zambra performances.

Every corner has a story, every vista a soundtrack. When you wander down Cuesta de los Chinos or pedal through the Vega, you feel the same mixture of nostalgia and pride that Estrella threads into her music. You understand, suddenly, why artists speak of Granada with such longing—and why returning always feels like a homecoming, even if it’s your first time.

The Cultural Fabric That Binds Music and Landscape

One of the joys of running Bike and Hike Granada is seeing how many visitors arrive initially for the landscapes—mountain trails, countryside routes, viewpoints overlooking the city—but leave captivated by something deeper. It’s not just the scenery that makes Granada unforgettable; it’s the atmosphere woven by artists like Estrella Morente.

Flamenco is not merely performed here; it emerges from the earth itself. The caves of Sacromonte were once home to communities whose songs echoed through the valleys. The narrow streets of the Albaicín have hosted guitarists, poets, and dancers for centuries. Even the orchards of the Generalife were once filled with music composed for the Nasrid court.

When you cycle through the countryside east of the city, you pass through small villages where the Morente surname is spoken with admiration and affection. When you hike up to San Miguel Alto, you often hear someone in the distance practicing a soleá or a bulería. And if you’re lucky enough to see Estrella perform live—whether in an intimate courtyard concert or at the Alhambra’s International Music and Dance Festival—you feel how seamlessly Granada’s geography and music are intertwined.

This is a city where art is not separate from daily life; it is braided into it.

A New Generation of Listeners and Travelers

In recent years, Granada has seen a flourishing of cultural tourism, particularly among young travelers who approach the city with curiosity and a desire for authentic experience. Many of them discover flamenco through artists like Rosalía. When they learn that Estrella Morente—whose voice appears on a global chart-topping album—is a Granadina, they begin to explore the deeper layers of the tradition.

At Bike and Hike Granada, we often meet visitors who tell us they built part of their trip around music: seeking out flamenco peñas, attending evening performances in Sacromonte, or even booking local lessons in dance or cajón.

What we love most is seeing how they connect the music with the landscapes they explore during their rides or hikes. They’ll mention how a certain route made them think of a song, or how Estrella’s voice accompanied them as they climbed toward the Sierra.

Travel is always richer when the place sings to you.

Always Returning, Always Renewing

Like Estrella Morente, Granada itself carries a spirit of return. It’s a city that grows on you until you no longer feel like a visitor. Maybe it’s the light reflecting off the Darro River, or the way the Albaicín smells after rain, or the sense of timelessness when you stand before the Alhambra’s reddish walls. Or maybe it’s the way flamenco echoes from somewhere just out of sight, calling you back.

For Estrella, that call is eternal. No matter where her career takes her—to Madrid studios, world tours, or collaborations with modern pop icons—she remains deeply Granadina. And in celebrating her, we also celebrate the city that shaped her, the same city that inspires everyone who walks, rides, or sings through it.

Granada is part of her skin. And once you’ve been here, it becomes part of yours too.