Traditional handcrafts

With the boom in tourism, there has also been a revival of the local artisan at that was on its way to extinction. Traditional crafts have once again become fashionable and often a profitable business enterprise not only for the locals, but also for many of those artists and craftsmen and women who have chosen to come and live in Las Alpujarras.

Many articles that were once produced for use in domestic life are now regarded as objects d’art. The mats to press olives or grapes, those to make cheese and butter, ceramics, rugs made of bits of leftover materials, they all have gained prestige with the demand for the rustic and the hand-made. Wrought iron and other farming implements, silverwork, hand-woven materials are all now part of a profitable industry.

Many of the beautiful ceramics and pottery are produced using the traditional methods of throwing and the designs of the Al-Andalus of the Arabs and the Moors. The tourist can easily visit and see many artists at work.

The jarapa industry (hand-woven colourful rugs) is the most popular craft in La Alpujarra to be seen in almost every shop in the villages and so are straw and cane baskets, hand-carved wooden objects as well as leatherwork in many forms.

Lanjarón, Laroles, Mecina Bombarón, Yégen and Los Güájares are re-known for the craft of basket weaving and the manufacturing of cane work (esparto). Another craft they are known for is the production of objects made from carved calabashes.

Artists and craftsmen’s studios and workshops abound around Las Alpujarras.