The venue behind the show
What is a tablao? Flamenco venues
What a tablao is, how it differs from a café cantante, a theatre and a restaurant, and what that means when you choose a flamenco ticket in Córdoba.
Book the Córdoba flamenco show ↗Quick answer
Think of a tablao as a flamenco room with a stage floor of boards, and the word covers both. Wikipedia places the rise of the type from the 1960s onward, as the older cafés cantantes gave way. Most serve drinks; many add tapas or meals. In Córdoba that range runs from a show with one drink, such as Tablao Cardenal, to a show in a restaurant with optional dinner, such as Tablao El Jaleo.
The word and the floor
Tablao comes from the Spanish tablado, a floor of boards. Wikipedia gives it two senses: a venue for flamenco shows, and the raised floor on which a flamenco dancer works. That double meaning explains why a tablao is built around the dancer's feet: the wood is part of the instrument, and the audience sits close enough to hear it. A tablao is therefore less a theatre with a stage than a room whose centre is a floor.
Where tablaos came from
Wikipedia dates the arrival of tablaos to the 1960s onward, when they began to supplant the cafés cantantes: cabaret-style rooms where flamenco was played and sung to a seated, drinking public. Those cafés reached their peak between the mid-nineteenth century and the early twentieth, and they helped turn flamenco into a profession. A café cantante had a large room with tables, and at the back the tablao, where artists performed. The modern tablao keeps the floor and the drinks.
What a tablao usually offers
Wikipedia places most tablaos in Andalusia, often in larger cities or along the coast. The walls of a typical one carry shawls of embroidered silk, portraits of famous people and bullfighting capes. Drinks are normally served, some venues add tapas or a full Spanish meal, and prices depend partly on whether an entrance fee is charged, which is why it pays to read what a ticket includes.
Two Córdoba tablaos, two formats
In Córdoba's Jewish Quarter, the two tablao tickets linked from this guide show the range. Tablao Cardenal sells a show with one drink in a historic house, with ham, cheese and Iberian tapas to order. Tablao El Jaleo gives a show of one to two hours with a drink and an optional dinner, in a setting that guests describe as a restaurant. Both are tablaos by Wikipedia's definition. They are different evenings, and the tickets guide helps you choose.
Read next: Flamenco show in Córdoba: tickets
Tablao, theatre or restaurant
A theatre show is about watching, and usually bans food and drink in the room. A tablao accepts a glass in your hand and a plate nearby. A restaurant show puts the meal first and the performance during or after it. None is better in itself; each suits a mood. For a first flamenco night, choose by what you will want in your hand: a drink only, or dinner too. The ticket, not the venue name, is the thing to read closely.
What to look for in a ticket
Check four things before you book: how long the show lasts, what the price includes, whether a meal is built in, and how seats are assigned. The Tablao Cardenal ticket gives eighty minutes, one drink, no meal and seats in order of reservation. The El Jaleo ticket gives one to two hours, a drink, an optional dinner and a restaurant setting. If a ticket does not say, look for the information on the booking page before paying.
Frequently asked questions
What does tablao mean?
It is a colloquial form of tablado, floorboard. It names a flamenco venue and also the platform floor a dancer uses.
When did tablaos appear?
From the 1960s, Wikipedia says, as the cafés cantantes faded.
How is a tablao different from a theatre?
No. A tablao usually serves drinks and sometimes food in the room, and a theatre show is generally about watching.
Do tablaos serve dinner?
Many offer tapas or a full Spanish meal. The ticket tells you whether dinner is included.
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