La Flaca
Jarabe de Palo
Two suffixes sit side by side here and pull in opposite directions. tremendísimo is an absolute superlative: Spanish bolts -ísimo onto an adjective to mean extremely, with no separate word for very required. loquito is a diminutive, softening instead of intensifying. Learners meet -ísimo late and use it rarely, though it is everywhere in speech and instantly makes you sound less like a course book. The vocabulary carries a Caribbean setting — tasca, salsa, mulata, cerveza — and the verbs stay in ordinary present tense. B1+ is about accent and elision rather than grammar, which here is straightforward.
How to study this song
“La Flaca” carries 33 Spanish words, 6 adjectives and 12 verb forms — 51 study entries in all, graded B1+. Start with the glossary: cara, caricias and cerveza come up again and again, so they are the ones to know first. This one leans on its verbs: 12 distinct forms against 6 adjectives, so conjugation is where the effort goes. At this level part of the list will already be familiar; the rest is what closes the gap.
The words of this song, in several languages
Every word below is taken from this song and translated by us. Nothing here is the lyric itself — these are the individual words you need in order to follow it.
Vocabulary
| ES | EN | IT | FR | PT | NL | DE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cara | face | faccia | visage | rosto | gezicht | Gesicht |
| caricias | caresses | carezze | caresses | carícias | strelingen | Zärtlichkeiten |
| cerveza | beer | birra | bière | cerveja | bier | Bier |
| coral | coral | corallo | corail | coral |
What this song teaches you
Level · B1+
- Vocabulary words
- 33
- Adjectives
- 6
- Word combos
- 10
- Expressions
- 12
- Verb forms
- 12
- Quiz questions
- 35
More Spanish songs at this level
Background
About the song
“La Flaca” is the debut hit of the Spanish band Jarabe de Palo, led by the late Pau Donés, released in 1996. Blending rumba, Latin rock and a warm acoustic groove, it is an affectionate portrait of a slim, captivating woman the singer met on a trip to Cuba, capturing the sights, heat and romance of the island.
Its easygoing charm and Donés’s soulful, raspy voice made it an instant favourite. The album was recorded in Barcelona in March 1996 and produced by the Englishman Joe Dworniak for EMI.
Did you know?
After the song was used in a television advert, the album it titled became a huge commercial success in Spain, reaching number one and earning multi-platinum certification for sales of well over half a million copies. “La Flaca” launched Jarabe de Palo’s career and became a lasting classic of Spanish-language pop-rock.
Charts & streaming
“La Flaca” was one of the best-selling Spanish records of its era and remains Jarabe de Palo’s signature song, still widely streamed and performed. It is a staple of Spanish and Latin American radio and a beloved part of Pau Donés’s musical legacy.
It sold barely 12,000 copies in its first seven months before the advert changed everything: the album went six times platinum in Spain for more than 600,000 copies, reached number two in Italy with a triple platinum award, and passed 1.1 million sales in all.