First things first: As a Spaniard who has lived in the UK since the late 1960s, who was guitarist Paco Peña barracking for in the recent EURO 2024 football competition? England or Spain?

“Ha!” he laughs over the line from his London home. “I could not lose!”

Paco Pena. Photo supplied

“I don’t usually watch a lot of sport, but I have to say it was wonderful to see Spain win,” Peña says. “They are such a very young team, but you could see them really communicating with each other very, very well. I was, I have to say, quite proud.”

Ahead of his next visit to Australia, where he will be touring with guitarist siblings Slava and Leonard Grigoryan, Peña says he’s sworn off watching Team Spain compete in the Paris Olympic Games. “Right now, I must practice, practice, practice, so I don’t make a fool of myself,” he chuckles.

It’s hard to imagine that ever happening, Limelight ventures.

“No, really,” Peña says. “I have to be at my very best. You know, I have played with Slava and Leonard many times now, especially with Slava because he was based in London...