Rare groove The DJ who wants to give away all her records

On a hillside an hour from Madrid lies a sprawling, tropical-hued complex crammed with 1950s Mexican film posters and prowled by the odd decorative monkey and jaguar.

- Sam Jones

It is the home of the Gladys Palmera collection, the largest private archive of Latin American music in the world.

In its numerous niches and cabinets and on its many, many shelves sit 60,000 records, 50,000 CDs and countless cassettes and digital audio tapes, from bolero and garage rock to salsa and reggaetón.

However, the woman who has spent the past 30 years amassing this treasure trove is considering donating its riches to a worthy – preferably noisy – new home.

Among the archive’s highlights are a rare green vinyl LP by the Cuban musician Arsenio Rodríguez, a pink-andsilver sequinned dress worn by the Afro-Cuban superstar Celia Cruz and a recording of James Dean, released in 1957, playing the congas. The complex also houses an online radio network that plays classic, contemporary and rare tracks, an exhaustive online catalogue and a brand new record label.