María Dolores Flores Ruiz January 21 1923 - May 16 1995, she was a Spanish singer, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Popularly known as (La Faraona) since the 1950s, Lola is known for her overwhelming personality onstage. As a bailaora, she enraged several generations of continents, although she distanced herself from flamenco canons. Lola performed more than 35 films, pigeonholed, in many of them, in Andalusian folklore, although she also interpreted rumbas and rancheras. Born and raised in Jerez de la Frontera, Lola moved to Seville in 1928. Flores was the daughter of Pedro Flores Pinto (1897-1973) and Rosario Ruiz Rodríguez (1901-1989). Her father owned a bar and her mother worked making clothes. She learned to dance with María Pantoja and to understand Flamenco with Sebastián Nuñez. Her debut at 16 years of age was with Custodia Romero's company in the Villamarta Theatre of Jerez de la Frontera. Shortly after leaving Jerez for Madrid, she rose to fame and soon signed the most expensive contract of the time (6 million pesetas in the 1950s) which launched her career, touring throughout Latin America. In 1958, she married Antonio González el Pescaílla, a gypsy guitarist from Barcelona. She had three children: singer and actress Lolita Flores; rock musician, singer and actor Antonio Flores; and singer and actress Rosario Flores. Lola Flores, while one quarter gypsy through her maternal grandmother, referred to herself as "paya" or non-gypsy Spanish. Nevertheless, she is considered an icon of the Gypsy and Roma community in Spain, particularly since she married into a gypsy family. "La Faraona" died of breast cancer in 1995, aged 72, and was buried in the Cementerio de la Almudena in Madrid. In 2007, the biopic Lola, la película was made. The movie describes her early life, starting in 1931 until 1958. Lola Flores, a native of Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz) was an icon of traditional Andalusian folklore, recognized throughout Spain as well as internationally. She became a famous dancer and singer of Andalusian folklore at a very young age, performing flamenco, copla, and chotis and appearing in films from 1939 to 1987. Her father owned a bar and her mother was dressmaker. She learned to dance with María Pantoja and to understand Flamenco culture with Sebastián Nuñez. Her debut at 16 years of age was with Custodia Romero's company in the Villamarta Theatre of Jerez de la Frontera. After several spectacles she went to Madrid. Shortly after leaving Jerez for Madrid, she rose to fame and soon signed the biggest contract of the time (6 million pesetas in the 1950s) which launched her career touring throughout Latin America. In 1943, with the protection of business owner Adolfo Arenaza, Lola set out a performance named Zambra with Manolo Caracol, which with small variations would be kept several years with great success. Zambra was decisive for Lola Flores's career, a spectacle very organized in all his elements for the one that they chose to León Quintero and Quiroga and that had her culminating number in “La niña de fuego” and of that there went out also "La Zarzamora", one of the songs most associated with Lola.

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