Rocio Jurado, a singer and actress who was a beloved figure in Spain and Latin America over a career spanning more than four decades, died yesterday in Madrid of pancreatic cancer. She was 61.

A feisty Andalusian woman with striking eyes and flowing red hair, Jurado was known fondly as “la mas grande de Espana” Spain’s greatest. She won myriad awards, recorded more than 30 records, performed on both sides of the Atlantic and appeared in nearly a dozen films, her first as a teenager. In 1985, she performed at the White House for President Reagan.

Jurado – her full name was Maria del Rocio Trinidad Mohedano Jurado – was known for a powerful voice that blended traditional Spanish styles of flamenco, folk and romantic ballads.

Born September 18, 1944, Jurado was a glitzy but revered fixture on the Spanish show business scene. She was first married to a world champion boxer, then a well-known bullfighter, jetting back and forth between her mansion in Madrid and ranch in Seville.

A prolific entertainer, she won a slew of awards over the course of her career, including prizes for flamenco singing, album of the year in Spain in 1980 and 1985 and honors in Venezuela, Mexico, Miami and Las Vegas.

While living in Argentina, she performed in a play called La Zapatera Prodigiosa, based on work by Federico Garcia Lorca. After teaming up with composer Manuel Alejandro, Jurado became a huge hit on the Latin music scene, becoming acclaimed throughout the Americas and Spain.

Her overseas concerts also included shows at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Madison Square Garden in New York and Beethoven Hall in Bonn, Germany.

In early April, shortly after Jurado was hospitalized in Madrid, the Spanish government approved a decree awarding her a Gold Medal for Merit in Work, hailing her as “one of the best voices in our country” and a star in both music and film.

On Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said Spain was mourning the loss of “a person who was so valuable, so beloved, so respected and so important for the popular culture of our country.”

Expressions of grief quickly poured in from around the country.

The mayor of Madrid announced a street in Spain’s capital would be named after Jurado, the deputy prime minister said Spain has lost a cultural icon, and a popular young singer announced that in honor of Jurado she was postponing the release of a new record.