The 34-year-old, Cuban, classical guitarist, Alí Arango, has won this year’s International Andrés Segovia Guitar competition, which concluded on Sunday the 22nd.

Accordingly, the string-plucking blighter has walked away with 10,000 euros as First Prize and a guitar worth 5,200 euros, made by the expert hands of luthier, Aarón García Ruiz.

He also gets to play at the Festival Internacional de Música y Danza in Granada, which is like getting invited to the Queen’s tea party in the guitar world.

The Second Prize, won by Romanian, Mircea Gogoncea, was worth 4,000 euros and a top-notch guitar worth 3,250 euros made by La Herradura luthier, Stephen Hill. He also gets to play at the Festival Internacional de Música y Danza in Úbeda, Jaén – not quite Queen’s tea party level, but certainly an upmarket scone & cuppa or two!

The Third Prize winner, Joaquim dos Santos from Portugal, pocketed 2,000 euros and a slot, playing at the Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País in Jaén. (a suitable equivalent of a Tetley’s and rich-tea biscuit arrangement).

And that’s enough on that subject…

(News: Herradura, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)