The body of influential Spanish guitarist Paco de Lucia has been buried in his hometown of Algeciras in Spain’s deep south.

Hundreds of people gathered in the rain to mourn de Lucia’s passing.

He died suddenly of a heart attack after complaining of chest pains while on holiday in Mexico last week.

The 66-year-old virtuoso helped to legitimise flamenco in Spain at a time when it was shunned by the mainstream.

“I learned the guitar like a child learns to speak,” the guitarist said in a 2012 documentary.