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Spanish hip hop group cancel London gig after Cuban members refused visas
By CMU Editorial | Published on Wednesday 29 April 2009
A Grammy Award winning Spanish hip hop outfit Ojos de Brujo, who fuse flamenco into their act, had to cancel a gig in London on Monday when two of their number were refused visas to come to the UK. The two members in question are Cuban, which is why they couldn’t just come here automatically under European citizenship rules.
Ojos de Brujo were due to play the Roundhouse on Monday, ahead of two other UK gigs later this week. The show was cancelled at the last minute when the UK consulate in Madrid confirmed it would not issue visas for Carlitos Sarduy (trumpet, keyboard) and Enrique Ferrer (drummer). The band’s reps are still pushing for visas in a bid to get the two Cubans to booked shows in Liverpool and Edinburgh later this week, though the nine piece combo say they will play stripped down shows in those cities if their two bandmates are still refused admission into the country.
It’s not clear why Sarduy and Ferrer were refused admission, because the group have toured widely in recent years, and played in numerous European countries. The visa application was filed a month ago, and the band says that their UK agent has brought many Cuban performers into the country previously without any problems.
The group’s manager, Jemima Cano, told Billboard: “This is a terrible hassle. London is really important for us, it’s the music capital of Europe. Apparently, the consulate was not happy with the sponsorship certificate, which requires a letter of invitation from the promoter [in London]. They [also] refused to accept that Enrique and Carlitos had enough money for the visit – it’s absurd, we [the band’s management] were going to pay everything. Enrique and Carlitos are legal residents in Spain, but with Cuban passports. The problem in this case is that they are Cubans, and we know how many people in the West view that”.
