La Bola Negra, is a phenomenon that predates its release by a long time. Produced, written and directed by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, aka Los Javis, it won the Best Director prize at Cannes and many more are anticipated. In it, many scenes shine and the ones starring Penélope Cruz dazzle. The actress portrays Nené Romero, a cupletist who, like many did, travels around Spain during the Civil War to entertain the Nationalist troops in the rear. Her appearance, not longer than ten minutes, consists of two musical numbers: Las tardes del Ritz and Batallón de Modistillas, which mark a before and after in history. Journalist Alberto Rey, after one of the private screenings held in Madrid, exclaimed about the actress jokingly: “Two films, two Oscar nominations.” He was only joking a little.
The first song Nené performs during a 1939 performance in Santander is called Las tardes del Ritz. It had been composed ten years earlier by Álvaro Retana and Genaro Monreal and was debuted/popularized by the drag artist Edmond de Bries. At that moment, a new culture was entering Madrid through music, fashion (the era of the flappers) and new habits, such as socializing in a hotel bar. Politically it was a tense moment, and Madrid’s Ritz hotel stood in contrast: a space of escape and elegance. It had opened only a few years earlier: it opened on October 2, 1910; it is about to celebrate its 116th birthday. The hotel was a pioneer in what we now take for granted: a beautiful, efficient, and clean place. That, together with its steel structures and the French-inspired look (the work of Charles Mewes) that it still maintains today, became the pattern that would be followed by the rest of luxury hospitality.
With its five floors, its à la carte restaurant and its afternoon tea, the Ritz was the symbol of a modern Spain that wanted to play in the league of Europe’s major cities. The habit of spending afternoons there, with its snacks, was brought by Alfonso XIII from London. After his honeymoon at the two Ritz hotels, London and Paris, he returned to Madrid with the idea of building the hotel and introducing the afternoon tea. In a city used to chocolate with churros, the ritual was exotic. The hotel (now part of the Mandarin Oriental group) is bringing back this October the traditional afternoon tea, as the king brought to Spain in the early 20th century. The Ritz afternoons of yesterday were a refuge of peace and civilization. The afternoons of today remain so.
