The flamenco bagpipes sound
Resuenan las zambombas flamencas

That's right, you heard correctly, the Traditional Andalusian families have been playing an Instrument like a bagpipe, mixed into their Christmas carols, within the tight knit community of what used to be called the "Corrales" pronounced "CorrrrrrrrrrraaahLez" which is/or was a typical enclosed courtyard type of neighborhood community, now mostly removed in favor of more modern housing estates and tower blocks, just like in England basically, the OLD style of Shakespearian or pre-Victorian Tenement housing with the typical centrally located "court yard" has all but disappeared in Spain now, only a few survive, and it is within these few, and many of the privately owned family "Patios" that you can still hear this being practiced.

The name "Patio" in Spain, in Spanish, is a much more In-tune-with-the-real-thing type of Patio, and NOT what the English refer to as a Patio, which basically is nothing of the sort, the "Real" Patio, in Spain, is as close to a court yard as a small family could get, and is located centrally to the rest of the house, it is a gardened area, totally shaded, arcaded, with fountain(s) or water fall features, and big green leafed pot plants all around, and this is the place where in the heat of summer, the family gathers around to relax out of the sun, in a naturally cool area, which is heavily tiled all over, in order to defeat the scorching heat, which is cleverly wafted up & out of the Patio area by the cool drafts being drawn in to it by the longish passage ways that lead into it, and often cold air drawn-up from a sub basement below the Patio, so that during the famous Spanish Siesta, the family could get substantial relief from the midday sun, take a quick cold water dip, eat fresh fruits stored in a cool place, and then sleep off the rest of the after noon, before heading back to work for the last few hours of the evening, then arriving home to start getting ready to make dinner, which is traditionally served at about 10.pm or 11.pm on very hot nights in summer. Even in Winter at Christmas, they still gather in the courtyards and Patio's to eat & drink, and sing traditional Andalusian songs & Christmas carols.

Here is a Link to an Interesting article:-

The flamenco bagpipes sound
Ingles::
http://www.esflamenco.com/scripts/news/ennews.asp?frmIdPagina=287

Resuenan las zambombas flamencas

Castellano::
http://www.esflamenco.com/scripts/news/esnews.asp?frmIdPagina=287


Hope you enjoy reading the article;

Felices fiestas.

Saludos,

Angelo
.