Buenos días! Salina and Associates welcomes all of you to a new Madrid where passports and visas are not required at all!  Yes, I’m talking about real live Madrid in the heart of KL!

So ladies and gentlemen, dress up in your killer red heels, cashmere scarves, polished shoes and satin bows! Turismo Madrid (the Madrid Tourism Board) is here to flaunt their flamboyant designer wear and astonishing artistry which will leave the streets of Kuala Lumpur on fire!

In conjunction with F1 week in Malaysia which sees thousands of tourists and Malaysians alike in a feverish F1 frenzy, Turismo Madrid decided to organise a whole week of exciting Madrid themed events to give Malaysians and F1 visitors a taste of what Madrid has to offer, a chance to discover the great cultural activities of Madrid, its food, fashion and history of magnificent architectures and luxurious art pieces.

The 31 March 2009 saw the Madrid Week open with a very special performance of traditional flamenco by Jerez Puro.Compañia de Maria del Mar Moreno - a co-presentation between Turismo Madrid and Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS at PETRONAS Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur City Centre.

The performance entitled “Esencia”, took the audience to the roots of the mysterious spirit of traditional Spanish Flamenco. Award wining dancer Maria del Mar Moreno and main singer Antonio Malena together with a group of 8 singers, dancers, guitars and palmeros performed from the deep wounded cry of “Seguidillas” to the jubilant joviality of “Bulerias”; capturing the whole sphere of human emotion in this brief encounter with Spanish culture.

Guests were treated to a very unique concoction of molecular cuisine, followed by  an iconic tapas performance by starred Michelin Chef of Madrid - the very charming and talented- Chef Paco Roncero!

The performance by Jerez Puro.Compañia de Maria del Mar Moreno certainly had us all mesmerized while the delicate molecular cuisine had us all in awe! Unfortunately one week of Madrid was certainly not enough! Looks like its time to start a putting some money away for a real Madrid getaway….or for those of us who find that a bit difficult perhaps we may see more of Madrid in KL next year……

Well, to wrap things up, ‘me la pasé bien’ (the entire Salina & Associates had an amazing time!)

Ya me despido,

Adios!