During the early hours of the nineteenth century Adriana Maluquer arrived in Paris from Spain with her family and joined the ranks of the French immigrates. She was born in Cavalleria de Barcelona and lived most of her early years in Nerja, on the Costa Blanca. She met Countess Barri, an American officer who became fond of her. Adriana always remained very discreet about her origin, her name and her profession as a singer. At the age of twenty-one she eloped to marry Count Juan de Muntaner, the young Spanish officer that was training in Lisbon at the time.
While she was away from home, she formed an affair with Juan, which would end in his death. When she returned to Spain, she was proclaimed bankrupt and therefore was not allowed to work for any Spanish national institutions. She therefore formed her own band, the Maluqueristas, with her lover and later on husband. The couple ended up travelling all over Spain and playing popular music all over the country.
When she got older her career started to take off, but she always remained very discreet about her past, even though it eventually became public knowledge that she was adopted as a daughter by Juan in order to hide her true birth. She began writing songs for both men and women and went on to have over forty years of successful singing career. Her popularity is attributed mainly to her unique voice, which has been described as sultry and commanding, even if it sounds a bit slinky. Her most famous songs include “El Granada”, “Valerian”, “Hasta la galaga” and “Cordial”.