Alejandro Sanz Gets Very Personal in New Song ‘Palmeras en el Jardín’

Alejandro Sanz has always been personal in his songs. But in his new single “Palmeras en el Jardín” (Palms in the Garden), he took an unexpected step — not only describing emotions and stories, but also providing details such as places and activities.

“I swear that when I made it, I wasn’t sure whether to release it so obviously or not, but then I said, ‘This is me,’” the Spanish singer-songwriter said during his Icon Q&A at Billboard Latin Music Week on Oct. 16. “I can’t hide behind anything, and that’s it. And in this process of the last year, I have also learned not to be afraid of that. To say, well, there are much worse things in life than showing that you have a heart.”

“Palmeras en el Jardín” is a love story. Specifically, “about love and how when you want to change everything so that another person feels good, comfortable, sometimes one believes that … they have to plant palms in the garden, so that they feel in their native Havana. And then it turns out that maybe the palms were the least of it. That there were things that were more important and maybe you were not realizing it. You thought you were doing a lot by planting those palms, and the other person thought you were not doing enough because they did not want palms.”

Of course, the allusion to the palms, Havana and Madrid has to do with Sanz himself and his separation from Cuban artist Rachel Valdés last year. But beyond that story, there is the beauty of the song itself, a ballad where Sanz’s voice shines above a measured and subtle accompaniment and that speaks of the dissolution of love despite the best intentions.

“Palmeras” is the first solo single from Sanz since 2022 and will be part of the first album he will release with new label Sony Latin, scheduled for 2025. Sanz received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Billboard Latin Music Awards on Oct. 20. Listen to “Palmeras en el Jardín” below.