Artesanía Textil De Grazalema - The History

The making of blankets and woolen textiles in Grazalema

During the 18th. and the first part of the 19th centuries, Grazalema was an important town in Cadiz province, mainly owing to the manufacture of its pure wool products. In 1850 there were approximately 9,000 inhabitants in the town and, as a result of its commercial and administrative activities, it was known in the area as ‘Cadiz Chico’ or ‘Little Cadiz’.

In spite of its situation in the mountains, at roughly 900 metres above sea level, Grazalema was not an isolated town languishing in the shadow of the great peak of San Cristobal. Apart from its flourishing wool trade, it was the judicial and administrative centre for Benaocaz, Ubrique, Villaluenga, El Bosque and Benamahoma; this extended area comprised some 20,000 inhabitants.

Blasco Ibanez, Perez Clotet and the brothers Jose and Jesus de las Cuevas made numerous references to the famous capes and blankets of Grazalema. Romero de Torres tells how before the fire which destroyed the Town Hall archive, it had contained a Royal Order issued by Philip V granting privileges to those who made the textiles and the wool products. “One can appreciate therefore” wrote the author “the tremendous importance that this town had for centuries as a manufacturing centre, until only a few years ago when unfortunately the industry fell into such a decline that there are hardly more than two or three factories left which still weave the famous textiles and blankets of Grazalema”.

Thirty thousand arrobas (an arroba is approx. 11.5kg) of wool were used in the manufacture of these textiles. There were a number of different auxiliary industries such as dyeing, beating and washing the wool. Some 4,000 people overall were employed in the industry. Sometimes the factories would lend money and raw materials to the workers, who generally worked at home along with the other members of the family. In other instances the townspeople would buy the wool themselves and take it to the factories to make the yarn. They had their own looms at home and the whole family would be involved in the design and the weaving of the cloth and blankets. As soon as the weaving was done they would return to the factories for the beetling and the teasling of the cloth. They would then sell the blankets privately to trades people in the local towns and villages, to exporters or other dealers. Alternatively they would use them to pay their debts.

Grazalema is said to be the wettest town in the whole of Spain, and therein lies the secret of its wool, because it is cleaner and more thoroughly washed than any other.