Mudcat has longtime members who first heard Manitas de Plata, in some form or other (not necessarily live), many years ago. Older Mudcat threads may be found in which these Mudcatters are polarized, pro and con, on the Gitans who live in France, and on any connection their music has, not to Django Reinhardt's jazz, but to Andalusian traditions of flamenco and to Gitanos who live in Spain.

It is because a connection, however tenuous or twisted, does exist on a historical level, that the discussion may never be settled one way or the other.

For musicians who speak English, and come from the UK or the US, flamenco is mostly a remote experience. Some posts defending Manitas de Plata allow that the poster had never been exposed to flamenco before hearing the guitar music of Manitas de Plata. There are those in a younger generation who might well say the same of the Gipsy Kings and their internationally successful recordings and concert tours. So, in a funny way, history repeats itself.