Well, the only way that anybody posting on here knows about Manitas is because he was lionized by those famous music critics Brigitte Bardot, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, and Jean Cocteau!
The media picked up on that and the next minute he's the greatest thing since sliced bread, and being flown all over the place to appear on the Rolf Harris Show ...and the like!

If you want to hear what a really great player can do with flamenco listen to Paco de Lucia.
On every level, Paco is a far, far greater musician and guitarist than Manitas.
Paco took all sorts of influences and incorporated them into flamenco but without trampling all over the form and the tradition.