Flamenco oozes pure sex and passion.

The curve of a raised arm, the furrow of a brow, the dramatic strum of a guitar, a singer's lamenting wail and the sudden hush of a crowd - flamenco has come to represent all that is fiery and passionate about Spanish culture.

Flamenco fuses music, song and dance and oozes pure sex. Men in tight pants pace around brooding, castanet-clacking women dressed in frilly layered get-ups. Musicians egg the dancers on with syncopated hand claps, foot stomps and shouts of ''ole!''

Flamenco stems from the Roma dances of 18th century Andalucia and it has never been more popular than it is today. Its spiritual home is Andalucia, but you are just as likely to see it performed at a street party in La Caruna or at an intimate tablao in Madrid as you are at a cavernous bar in Seville's old quarter. Numerous schools around Spain also offer flamenco dancing courses to foreigners.