text: amor gitano " amor gitano " ( english : " gypsy love " ) is a latin pop duet by mexican recording artist alejandro fernández and american recording artist beyoncé . the song contains a mixture of cultures , mostly influenced by the exotic language of fernández , that is spanish , and beyoncé 's pop and r & b influences . along with jaime flores and reyli barba , beyoncé wrote the song , while rudy pérez and beyoncé herself produced the song . " amor gitano " serves as the theme song of the telenovela el zorro and it was released on february 12 , 2007 during the premiere of the episode of the telenovela . " amor gitano " generally received positive reception from music critics . while some of them complimented the vocal exchanges between both artists and the flamenco pop genre of the song , others criticized the song for being somehow offensive due to the stereotypical lyrics . although it failed to make any impact on the main us billboard hot 100 chart , it charted on a few billboard component charts , peaking at number twenty - three on the us latin pop songs chart . achieving multi - platinum certifications for ringtones and digital downloads in spain , the song remained at the top of the spanish singles charts for thirteen weeks , becoming beyoncé 's second spanish chart - topping single , the first being " beautiful liar " ( 2007 ) . " amor gitano " is ranked at number one on the list of best - selling singles in spain . background and recording " amor gitano " originated from the collaboration of sony bmg 's biggest talents and greatest assets . kevin lawrie , president of sony bmg latin america , contacted the sony entertainment television latin america as well as the producers of el zorro to come up with a theme song for the telenovela . at the same time , beyoncé and fernandez were in the process of selecting material for their respective upcoming projects . paul , the vice president of the artists and repertoire division of sony entertainment television latin america , first heard the song from reyli barba and felt it could be perfect for fernandez . lawrie later contacted mathew knowles , president and ceo music world entertainment , about beyoncé 's spanish material , and the duet song was recorded partly at the beach house recording studios in miami beach , florida and at the rock the mic studios in new york in mid january 2007 , with rudy perez . in an interview with billboard magazine , beyoncé discussed how excited she was about the collaboration stating , " i loved working with alejandro on ' amor gitano . ' when i was asked to record with him , i immediately said ' yes . ' he is extremely talented . " alejandro fernández stated that as the production and recording of his album was nearly over , he was told that beyoncé wanted to record a duet with a latino male for her next album . he stated : " so when they suggested it , i liked the idea . i thought it was spectacular . so we went , i gave her the song and she liked it [ ... ] we recorded it in one day . she seemed like a fine lady to me , very humble , with a great voice . " according to beyoncé 's publicity material , she grew up in a texas area where spanish was a popular language and heard it all the time . she studied the language as a child but forgot it as she grew up and rose to fame . beyoncé was planning to take spanish lessons because she had learn the language again and then the song by imitating the sounds . she stated : " i had the best coach ; i did it phonetically , every sentence i recorded maybe four times . " a " making of ... " video was created while beyoncé was recording the song with fernández . while creating the song , beyoncé had producer rudy perez coach her in her spanish , as she did not want to misrepresent the language . music and theme the song was written by reyli barba , formerly of the band elefante , who has worked with fernández on multiple occasions . additional writing was done by jaime flores and beyoncé . " amor gitano " was produced by beyoncé as well as rudy perez . labelled as inappropriate for those under the age of 14 , the song features negative stereotyping of romani or gypsy people . the entire song is sung in spanish ; the english translation of the title is " gypsy love " . the song contains hints of flamenco pop and strong lyrics dominate the entire track . after opening with " traditional flamenco sounds and generic gypsy kings - style guitarra riffs " , " amor gitano " adds hints of pop music . as the song progresses , it transcends into a ballad , demonstrating romance , excitement and extreme emotions . " amor gitano " is completely dominated by flamenco guitars which is interlaced with alternating vocals . with what has been described as a " thrilling blend of the stars " by james p. of common sense media , both beyoncé and fernández exchange " heated declaration of love and passion . " lyrically the song contains a broader , melodramatic concept of love with beyoncé and fernández exchanging words between verses , for instance in one part , fernández sings " i 'm your gypsy , your pilgrimage " and beyoncé replies " i 'm your thief , i 'm going to love you even if they tear my heart out . " release and reception " amor gitano " debuted on february 12 , 2007 on the premiere episode of telemundo 's el zorro novella . the song was the first included on beyonce 's third studio album b 'day , where it was included on the second disc of the albums deluxe edition which included an additional six spanish - language tracks . the song was released as a bonus track on all european releases of the original b 'day albums . " amor gitano " also serves as the opening track of beyoncé 's ep irreemplazable . " amor gitano " was also included on fernández 's twelfth studio album viento a favor ( 2007 ) . the promo shoots of the album viento a favor highlighted the collaboration between fernández and beyoncé . critical reception the song garnered generally mixed to positive reception from music critics , most of whom noted that the song may be taken offensively because of its stereotypical lyrics . the song has been described as a " plaintive ballad " by joseph woodard of entertainment weekly . san francisco - based non - profit organization , common sense media gave the song a mixed review , stating that it should remain an album track rather than a single . they stated , " with beyoncé doing a pretty good job of phonetically singing in spanish ( the occasional verb phrase doesn 't blend ) , this is more about novelty than about being a great single . " agustin gurza of the los angeles times gave the song a positive review , naming it a stand - out track off of alejandro 's viento a favor . jason birchmeier of allmusic complimented the writing as well as the production on the song and called it " over - bearing in a positive way . " as a positive spoof of the song 's premiere on zorro : la espada y la rosa , billboard created a wanted poster for fernández , which stated he was wanted " for stealing the hearts of millions " with his performance in the song . chart performance " amor gitano " mainly sold in markets with a latin demographic . it failed to make any impact on the main us billboard hot 100 . however , the single charted on the us latin pop songs chart , and peaked at number twenty - three . " amor gitano " was more successful on spanish charts . the song peaked at number one on both the spanish singles and download charts . it remained at the summit of the singles chart for thirteen weeks from may 28 , 2007 to august 27 , 2007 , until later replaced by " lamento " by dani mata . " amor gitano " is also beyoncé 's second number - one hit on the spanish download chart ( the first was " beautiful liar " ) as well as her first spanish - language number - one hit . the song was certified eight - times platinum ( 160 , 000 copies ) for downloads and sixteen - times platinum ( 320 , 000 copies ) for ringtone sales by the productores de música de españa ( promusicae ) . it is ranked at number one on the list of best - selling singles in spain . credits and personnel adapted from the b 'day 's liner notes . charts and certification