Real Housewives and Below Deck both shot scenes at a flamenco dinner show with roots going back to 1929.
American television has visited Barcelona’s Poble Espanyol more than once. Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” filmed an episode there during its 13th season, and the network’s “Below Deck Down Under” later shot a scene at the same address: the Tablao de Carmen, a flamenco dinner venue that has operated inside this recreated Spanish village since 1988. The Poble Espanyol itself was built in 1929 for Barcelona’s International Exposition, with streets and squares modeled on different regions of Spain, from Andalusian courtyards to Castilian plazas, and it remains one of the city’s most visited cultural sites.
The connection to Spanish dance runs deeper than a TV cameo. In 1929, during that same Exposition, a young Carmen Amaya danced in front of King Alfonso XIII in what is now the Poble Espanyol’s Patio Cordobés. Amaya went on to perform across Europe, the United States and South America, and in 1988 the Tablao that carries her name opened on that same site, on one of the streets built to resemble an Andalusian town.
The format is a full sit-down dinner served during a live flamenco performance, with both happening at the same table, at the same time, in a room built for that pairing from the start. Tables sit in the orchestra section and on two balconies around a central stage, styled after an Andalusian courtyard, with white lanterns and red carnations lining the room. Two seatings run nightly, at 6:45pm and 9:15pm, six nights a week, with dinner menus ranging from a tapas-style meal to a full gastronomic tasting, plus vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and halal options, all prepared by the venue’s own kitchen rather than brought in from outside.
Rosalía performed there anonymously in May 2016, not long before she was discovered, a detail confirmed by the venue’s management. Sara Baras has also danced on the same stage, and Spanish media has referred to Barcelona as a flamenco capital in coverage tied to the venue’s anniversary. Tickets, available through the venue’s own booking page, include admission to the Poble Espanyol from 4pm on the day of the reservation, which gives visitors time to walk through the village’s recreated regional streets and squares before dinner starts.
With more than 2,000 Google reviews and a 4.7 rating, the Tablao de Carmen has built its reputation on a simple pairing: real Spanish cooking and live flamenco, inside the same Poble Espanyol where Carmen Amaya first performed in 1929, decades before either Bravo show found its way to the same address.
