Here’s What People Are Saying About the Latin GRAMMYs Being Hosted in Spain

The Latin Grammys, the annual celebration of Latin American musical talent, is moving to… Spain.

The Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences announced at a press conference with the Andalucía city board that the two entities have a “three-year sponsorship deal” that includes moving the celebration to the southern Spanish city.

“We are considering Sevilla to celebrate the 24th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards this November, but we are still working through the logistics with our partners TelevisaUnivision,” said Latin Academy Manuel Abud in an exclusive statement provided to Billboard. “We will share additional details about the date and location of the next Latin GRAMMYs soon.”

The first Latin GRAMMY Awards were held in 2000, and previous host cities have included Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Houston, New York City and Miami.

Founded by Michael Greene and producers and songwriters Rudy Perez and Mauricio Abaroa, the Latin Awards recognize the growth of the Latin music universe.

Similarly, the Latin Recording Academy defines Latin music as music in Spanish or Portuguese.

However, over the past few years, our community has re-appropriated the terminology to make a sharp separation between what it means to be Latino, Spanish, or Portuguese.

This has been highlighted by the emergence of Catalan singer Rosalía in the world of urban music.

Although in 2005 the show moved from CBS to Univision to make the broadcast entirely in Spanish, the public is still divided about what it really means to be a Latino artist.

Now, with the awards moving to Seville, social media users have a lot to say.

Recognizing true talent?

It is no secret that the Latin American musical tradition is much broader than the Iberian one, thanks precisely to the colonial process, the syncretism of centuries of miscegenation, and the quality of Latino artists.

Then, why not celebrate the Latin GRAMMYs in a Latin American country?

Just think of artists such as Jorge Drexler (Uruguay) or Silvana Estrada (Mexico), who are exponents of Latin American lyric and composition music today.

The Latin GRAMMYs do not have to be exclusive, but they must be consistent

On the other hand, since the first Latin GRAMMY Awards ceremony, Spanish artists have always been in the highest categories.

While in 2000 the Album of the Year award went to Luis Miguel with “Amarte Es Un Placer,” the following year the award went to Spain’s Alejandro Sanz with “El Alma al Aire.”

Since then, Sanz has won the award thrice, Rosalia twice, and Paco de Lucia once in 2014.

The rest have been Latino singers of the stature of Juan Luis Guerra, Juanes, Shakira, and Natalia Lafourcade.

Finally, although music is a universal language, we can’t help but feel a slight sting knowing that our music continues to be a consumer product for the hegemonies. Meanwhile, our best artists lag in the playlists monopoly.

This article has been updated for accuracy. The Latin Recording Academy’s statement on the Latin GRAMMYs is included below.

The annual Latin GRAMMY Awards honor excellence in the recording arts and sciences across 53 categories, and are the only peer-selected awards celebrating excellence in Latin music worldwide. As an international nonprofit, the mission of The Latin Recording Academy^® is to nurture, celebrate, honor and elevate Latin music and its creators. The membership-based organization is composed of musicians, songwriters, producers and other creative and technical professionals from 43 countries specializing in Latin genres.