The tenth emerged in Spain, in the 19th Century. It was called espinela in honor to the Andalusian Vicente Espinel, who in 1591 established this form that soon arrived at America. In Cuba it is sung in the peasant guateques, in the controversies between two repentistas to which they accompany with guitars, three, tiple, lute, clave, güiro. In some regions they add drums or violins. On this art so popular in the town we will comment today.
The Punto Guajiro has 10 verses of 8 syllables that rhyme to each other and is varied. The Punto Libre or Vueltabajo is known in Pinar del Río, Havana and Matanzas. The improviser is given a forced phrase or Pie Forzado and the musicians follow with a slow rhythm that allows him to find the words.
The Punto Fijo or Camagüeyano is from Villa Clara, Cienfuegos and Camagüey. It is more difficult because it is done in a fixed time, to the rhythm of the music. The Punto Cruzado, Espirituano or Parranda consists in singing a learned tenth. In the Seguidilla, the repentistas improvise without stopping. Alexis Díaz Pimienta (1966), has shone during the Cucalambeana Days. This activity is done in tribute to Juan Cristóbal Naples Fajardo ''El Cucalambé'', an important Cuban repentista of the 19th Century, in Las Tunas.
In San Antonio de los Baños stood out three great repentistas during the Neocolonial Republic. They are José Othón López, José Calixto Marichal Negrín and Ángel Valiente. The most important cultural event in this period was the encounter between the poets Jesús Orta Ruiz (Naborí) and Angelito Valiente, at the Casino Theater (1955). This event has passed into the history of Cuban culture as the Controversy of the Century.