Asturian traditional folk dance / Áviles, Asturias, Spain

The traditional music of Galicia and Asturias, located along Spain&north-west Atlantic coast, are highly distinctive folk styles that have some similarities with the neighbouring area of Cantabria. The music is characterized by the use of bagpipes. It had long been thought that Galician and Asturian music might owe their roots to the ancient Celtic history of the region, in which it was presumed that some of this ancient influence had survived despite the long evolution of the local musical traditions since then, including centuries of Roman and Germanic influences. Whether or not this is the case, much modern commercial Galician and Asturian traditional and folk-rock of recent years has become strongly influenced by modern Irish, Scottish and Welsh "folk" styles. Galicia is nowadays a strong player on the international Celtic folk scene. As a result, elements of the pre-industrial Galician tradition have become integrated into the modern Celtic folk repertoire and style. Many, however, claim that the "Celtic" appellation is merely a marketing tag; the well known Galician bagpipe player Susana Seivane, said "I think [the &moniker is] a label, in order to sell more. What we make is Galician music". In any case, due to the Celtic brand, Galician music is the only non-Castilian-speaking music of Spain that has a significant audience beyond the country&borders. Some Galicians and Asturians have complained that the "Celtic boom" was the final death blow to once highly...