You were born in Málaga in Andalusia – the home of flamenco. Was it inevitable that you would become a guitarist?

You know, that’s a very difficult question but I think the answer is “yes” because in my mind I always was. So whether it was inevitable or not, it was what I felt ‘right’ for from the start.

Your father was your only teacher. Was that a difficult apprenticeship?

I consider myself the luckiest person in the world to have had such an incredible father. He was an amazing teacher and such an incredible example. I think myself really a fortunate man. My first concert was with my father when I was about seven years old. I remember I played Bach’s Gavotte and Sevilla by Albéniz, and I think I played a Fernando Sor Minuet.

But was he a hard taskmaster?

In a way, he was – but in the most patient and loving way. He was just very, very persistent and wanted to get things done right. His rule was that I was never allowed to play something for which I was not ready. So, an example: I was very little and I wanted to play Tarrega’s Recuerdos de la Alhambra, but until I had...