ANDALUCIA'S CRAFTS & CORK INDUSTRY ...

  Local crafts in Andalucia include products made from wicker, leather items and intricate lace designs.

                                       Like this lace appliqué waistcoat

                                           Lace making in Granada

                              And a master Cordoban leather worker practising his art

                                               and wickerwork 

                                               Err, fancy a test drive?

                              

                                    ORIGIN OF CORKS: ANDALUCIA'S CORK INDUSTRY

If you find yourself travelling in western Andalucia - anywhere from Gaucin to Ubrique, Ronda to Vejer next month between June 15 and August 15 - you might catch a glimpse of the most enigmatic (Legal) agricultural industry in Andalucia: the cork crop. Law forbids the cork oak collectors, usually employees of the cork factories from removing cork from the trees outside this brief priod, as it might damage the health of the trees. The men spend 2 years at college studying their subject before they Are so much as allowed near a tree with one of the array of special cork knives. Outside the 2 month harvesting period, the men all have different jobs in the processing factories for the rest of the year.

The iberian cork industry  - as well as bottle stoppers, it's also used in diverse processes from car construction to aeroplane insulation - is worth an estimated 2 billion dollars. Following the disastrous forest fires in Portugal in 2003, Spain has become the world's biggest single producer of cork.

Enjoy!