Gerundino Fernández (1931–1997) built in Almería, the same city where Antonio de Torres defined the modern guitar's architecture a century before him. Every serious flamenco guitarist of the second half of the 20th century knows Gerundino's name. The instruments he made in the 1975–1985 period are among the most sought-after in the flamenco market. El Almería was built inside that window, at the height of the maker's production.
The neck block carries the maker's stamp. Brazilian rosewood back and sides are confirmed, a restricted tonewood under CITES whose pre-documentation status adds an independent provenance dimension. Gerundino is deceased. No new production is possible. Almería is the place where Torres built, and where Gerundino built. El Almería connects both chapters of that story.
El Almería is the sole Almería school representative in the collection - a school whose significance to the history of guitar making extends beyond the flamenco tradition to the construction of the modern Spanish guitar itself. Torres's presence in Almería is the foundational event of the modern guitar. The full lineage context is covered in the ANICETO University curriculum.
| Instrument Name | El Almería · The City - Torres built here. Gerundino built here. |
| Maker | Gerundino Fernández · Almería |
| Year | 1980 · Peak production period 1975–1985 |
| School | Almería · Sole school representative |
| Type | Flamenca Negra |
| Top | Spruce |
| Back & Sides | Brazilian Rosewood · Dalbergia nigra · Confirmed independent inspection |
| Neck Block Stamp | Confirmed: gerundino, almeria, espana |
| Collection Role | Almería School Anchor |
| Acquired | Early 2026 |
Label confirmed. The instrument has been professionally inspected and conserved to museum standard, with all interventions fully reversible. Its structural and provenance record is maintained privately under museum archival standard.
Torres established in Almería what a guitar could be. Gerundino, building in the same city a century later, built what it became for the flamenco tradition specifically. They are not the same lineage, but they are the same place, and place matters in Spanish guitar making more than almost anywhere else in lutherie.
The story of this guitar is in the curriculum.
Almería, Antonio de Torres, and the significance of the city to the history of guitar construction is documented in the ANICETO University curriculum.
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