Aziya, Gina Jeanz, Nicola Cruz and Spanish superstar Nathy Peluso steal the first night honours at Mallorca Live Festival

Forget wormholes and tears in the space-time continuum, if you want to step into a parallel universe check out Thursday night at Mallorca Live which is heavy on acts that are superstars in the Hispanic world but would barely get a second glance if they walked into your local Supermac's.

Taking place in a decommissioned water park in Magaluf's hipster Calviá Beach enclave – for every Club 18-30 party kid there's an impeccably groomed beard – the festival is a reminder that Barcelona, Lima and San Juan are just as hip and happening as Berlin, London and Seattle.

Factor 50 slathered on - the mercury earlier was nudging 31° - my festival weekend kicks off with V. Gomez, a local hip hop hero whose chilled beats are the perfect soundtrack to the sun going down. I haven't an earthly what he's rapping about but suspect good looking girls are involved,

He's followed by Natalia Lacunza, a former realty TV contestant from Pamplona who's become something of a queer icon and does a neat line in sultry Latino pop.

Well, sultry until she unleashes 'Cuestion De Suerte', a pop banger that gets the 26-year old's seriously glam fans busting out their best moves.

A quick round of speed gigging affords me glimpses of Gina Jeanz, a Namibian DJ who throws lots of African rhythms and percussion into her hard house set; Delgao whose self-defined 'kinky pop' sounds like Aqua on Spanish holiday; Aroop Roy, a London DJ and producer who's at the jazzier end of the garage spectrum and insanely danceable; Psideralica who prove that Goths can survive in the Mallorca sunshine; and Nicola Cruz, a Spanish-born, Ecuadorian-raised DJ who turns out to be a 'he' and whose lush ambient techno draws heavily on Latin American folklore.

The festival site itself is stunning - five outdoor stages, loads of nooks and crannies to explore, forested hills on one side and the Mediterranean only a ten minute stroll away on the other.

Next is a trip backstage to meet Aziya, the London singer who like her pals Spider and Nova Twins has great fun blurring musical boundaries.

In her case, you're talking pop shot through with indie, grime and R&B.

A former Brits school graduate who funded her studies by modelling and ended up on the cover of Tatler, she's been championed by superstar American H.E.R., worked with Charli XCX producer John Hill and generally has a whiff of next big thing about her.

She also gives exceedingly good quote, as you'll find out in the July issue of Hot Press.

It's not easy playing to a crowd that clearly has zero idea who you are, but Aziya later slays it on the Radio 3 new music stage with 'He's Mine' and 'Diamonds' both demonstrating what all the fuss is about.

From stuttery vocodored start to blissed out finish, the latter is 2mins 21secs of pure unadulterated musical joy.

The night's undisputed star turn is Nathy Peluso, an Argentine singer in Spanish exile who looks like Lana Del Rey, sounds like a 'Toxic'-era Britney and has borrowed all of Christina Aguilera and Madonna's old dance moves.

What the Latin Granmy award-winner lacks in originality she makes up for in charisma, energy and determination to give the massive crowd a good time.

There are snogging gay dancers; a track, 'Corleone', which is equal parts Ennio Morricone and James Bond theme; cardiovascular salsa workouts; and a mock gunfight from which Ms. Peluso emerges the badass winner.

The deafening cheers at the end are both a 'mission accomplished' and notice served on the weekend's other headliners, Massive Attack and Iggy Pop, that they're going to have to bring their A-Game with them to Mallorca Live Festival.