Flamenco flashmobs striking up all over Seville

Who – apart from stuffy officials – doesn’t love a good flashmob? Their spontaneity brings a dance of joy across the lips of all who see them. The fact they inject a spark of creativity into the day-to-day, the humdrum, marks them out as something special. They’re just good fun.

But they’re usually pointless, too. If it hasn’t been organised by a global conglomerate then it’s usually been constructed by some facile Facebook group looking for a laugh. But there is one flashmob movement in Seville that is not only bringing joy and surprise to onlookers – it also has a serious message behind it…

Utilising the captivating power of Flamenco, an anti-capitalist group called Flo6x8 has been staging impromptu flashmobs in Sevillian branches of Bankía and Banco Santander in protest against Spain’s economic crisis.

These short and spontaneous displays of silently mute but undeniably beautiful protest often involve just one or two dancers, who spring into life while queuing in the ordinarily sensible, air conditioned offices. Bemused clerks and customers look on, captivated and mesmerised by the performance, before it’s all over and life carries on as normal.

Or does it? “At first there is surprise,” one of the organisers – Pepe El Moody – told the BBC. “Older people stand terrified in a corner, and mostly the bank employees are sympathetic, because they too are suffering in this economic situation.”

And with suffering, comes protest. In fact, Flamenco began as a form of protest, so Flo6x8 is simply reconnecting the art with its 19^th century roots. Early Flamenco lyrics sung of hardship, discord and suffering – echoing the turmoil that many millions in Spain currently find themselves in.

Like many art forms of a similar era, Flamenco has been traditionally performed by marginalised members of society. And as that group grows by the day, Spain’s banks should start preparing themselves for many more examples of this form of Flamenco protest.

The Flamenco flashmob phenomenon has hit banks across Seville

The government has already cottoned-on to the trend, and has made moves to make it illegal for a flashmob to form in a bank. But Spain does not stand alone. Flamenco flashmobs have been recorded in Rome, Milan and even the UK, although their political message is not so stringent.

“We are planning more protests,” El Moody confirmed to the BBC. What those might be remains a mystery at this stage, but one thing’s for sure – Flamenco has added another layer of lustre and mystique to its enduring legend.