Palm weaving returns to the Mancha Blanca fair: twenty pieces made by Yaiza's students

On the Yaiza council stand at the craft fair in Mancha Blanca there are some twenty pieces this year, entirely handmade: hats, baskets, plaited work. They were woven by the students of the empleita workshops the council has been running for some time.

Empleita is the plaiting of palm leaf and, along with rosetas lacework, it is one of the traditional Canarian techniques genuinely at risk of disappearing. Not for lack of interest: because you only learn them by watching someone who knows how, and those people grow old.

That is why the council funds the workshops and then brings the results to the fair: without institutional backing to push a new generation into giving it time, the craft is not handed on. A stand full of pieces made by people who learned this year says that better than any statement.

Where to see them

The 37th craft fair is at Mancha Blanca, in the municipality of Tinajo, and runs until 15 September: the same days as the Los Dolores festivities, in the same grounds.