La Carboneria presents flamenco music and it is, for any criticism, one of the few reliable flamenco venues in Sevilla that is free of charge. And flamenco is not to be missed.

Entering through that red door, one is in a small, high anteroom with a fireplace in the corner. Further inward is a larger, high room with vaulted stone ceiling, and this room is often used for performances alternative to flamenco — a two-person drama, say, or a small (2-3 piece) band. This area, long picnic-style tables on each side, is often mostly full of locals, except for a pathway through.

Through the back of this room is the main performance area. It is large — 100 by 75 feet, say. It's a modern wooden structure, partly roofed in wood and partly in corrugated fiberglass. The floorspace is divided between concrete below and raised seating area at back, against the stone wall of the older building. The whole of the area is set with tables. The bar is in that room. The flamenco goes on at the windowed wall. A stone courtyard is beyond, which is open during the warmer busy season.

The music at Carboneria includes various instruments — guitar, yes, maybe two; and maybe a flute, a violin, a cello... depending on the evening. It also includes the dancers, whose feet are the timekeeping percussion — the musicians often watch the dancers' feet. And, importantly, the music includes "las palmas," the hand-clapping of the crowd. This is an incredible part of the music. "Las palmas" will spontaneously separate into countertime beats, where the net effect will be as of a crowd clapping very quickly in perfect time. It's something else.

. Check again on the carboneria, the dancers are not ugly. atrocious? — From my guestbook [unsigned,] February 2005.

As for the dancers at la Carboneria, they were not the greatest to look at. I never would have said anything. My friend Peter was not quite as demure: "atrocious," he said.