Artesanía Textil De Grazalema - The History continued...

The Spanish wool industry, which in former times exported woollen garments to countries considered to have a sophisticated sense of dress, fell into a lamentable decline, and the final blow was dealt by successive Spanish governments which adopted free trade policies.

The result of this decline was that it was impossible to develop the wool combing industry in Spain. As a result, the wool was used mostly as a raw material which meant that the weight rather than the quality of the wool became the most important factor.

This general decline in the industry and the change in the criteria used to assess the quality of the raw material, took its toll on the national flock which had once produced the best wool in the world. Fortunately, however, the merino breed itself did not suffer since Spain is once again producing the same high quality wool products as it once did.

The sheep farmers neglected the shine and cleanliness of the wool in favour of weight alone. They drove the flocks along dusty tracks and even ensured that the sheepfolds themselves were kept dirty so that the fleeces were impregnated with dust and dirt which considerably increased their weight. In the most extreme cases, once a fleece had been combed out, it yielded only 35% of the purchased weight.

Only the rain in Grazalema prevented such extreme cases of abuse, since the fleeces were often washed ‘naturally’ just before sheering time. In Grazalema a fleece would yield (and still does) 50% wool.

In recent times many neighbouring countries have developed an enthusiasm for natural products: natural fibres, natural colours and hand-crafted methods of production. In other words, a humanising of the product. What is more, it is clear that people are prepared to pay more for products made in this way. This trend has unquestionably helped the development of the Hand- crafted Textiles of Grazalema (Artesania Textil de Grazalema).

Apart from the traditional articles, new designs are being produced using various combinations of materials. There is great potential in collaborating with the local leather craftspeople (handbags in wool and leather for example) where the high relative costs of the hand-crafted materials is amply compensated for by the label on the final product.

The oldest factories were water powered. All the machinery (except the looms themselves of course) was driven by means of a large, iron waterwheel which weighed more than 10,000 kgs. such a waterwheel is still used in our factory and it is in perfect working condition. With a diameter of 10 metres, it takes 25 litres of water per second to drive the wheel, which in turn drives all the machinery used in the blanket-making process.