A journey through Spain, from north to south, in which crafts are the protagonist
Our geography exudes beauty from north to south: its marine postcards, its urban landscapes, its villages nestled in the mountains... And there is no better way to soak up its culture, its tradition and its art that launching itself along the roads that draw the Iberian map in search of their most precious handicrafts.
Today, Amazon.es invites us to support local business joining The Handmade Tour, a route that runs through Spain hand in hand with some of its best artisans. Avilés (Asturias), A Coruña, El Campello (Alicante), Anglés (Girona), La Herradura (Granada) and in Villasana de Mena (Burgos) are the stops where passengers who decide to embark on this virtual journey will be able to meet both entrepreneurs -portrayed by renowned photographer Paco Marín- like their products , available in the Amazon Handmade store.
"The pleasure of driving and photographing. Nothing more", Paco Marín
"My photographs undress me because they tell many things about me. About my way of seeing life. About my passions. My look is honest, elegant and simple. And my photos always have to do with the human being, art and nature", comment Marin , who has connected with artisans through his goal to ** bring The Handmade Tour to life. **
The photographer is considered a great traveler, being his biggest hobby discover, from the hand of his camera, the most remote places in Spain , as well as connect with people from it.
“In each destination, an artisan to show me his work with his hands and the benefits of each place. Natural cosmetics, ceramics, leather, jewelry and wood. The Mena Valley, Avilés, La Coruña, El Campello, La Herradura and Anglés. Infinite pleasures of our country. **Vital experiences that are worthwhile”, comments Paco Marín. **
And the reason for this project, which is an original initiative of Amazon Spain and Amazon Handmade, is give visibility to small local businesses as well as giving testimony to the **six passionate entrepreneurs **who are behind them:
La Cosmética de María: handmade and organic solid shampoos
1.Mary's Cosmetics (Villasana de Mena, Burgos): cosmetic with the best of nature. This is how this firm is defined, whose workshop is run by María Gómez. “Like all craftsmen, I started making products experimenting at home and testing them with my family and friends, until I started to create my own cosmetic brand. a line with 100% natural ingredients, without chemical or plastic processes” says its creator.
2.Barruntando Ceramics (Avilés, Asturias): a group of friends who share the passion for ceramics decided to create this brand in 2014 . “Our main objective is to contribute a breath of fresh air to ceramics, which translates into cheerful and carefree designs, handcrafted with raw materials and traditional techniques, one by one; that's why all our works are unique, no two are the same”, explains Ana Magallón, one of the creators
3. Tatiana Riego (A Coruña): elaborate fashion and accessories, hand in hand, between mother (Tatiana) and daughter (Amanda) . Both define their collaboration as “a creative storm”, which broke out in 2011 in A Coruña . "We want to offer unique, special items, and at the same time contribute to preserving the tradition of artisan workshops," says Amanda.
4.Promise Designs (El Campello, Alicante): jewelry to convey messages of love. That is the DNA of this firm, which, how could it be otherwise, was born from the romance between Raúl Espinosa and Roxane Johnson. “Promise Designs are sentimental jewels because the vast majority of clients put dates, phrases, names that are very important to them, and they are things that stay forever”, Roxane points out.
Barruntando: passion for ceramics
5.Lilian Urquieta (La Herradura, Granada): a cute shop Horseshoe It is the place that Lilian chose in 2008 to devote himself to the leather goods . “Both her marvelous bay and the mountains around her, as well as the small streets of the old town constantly fill us with inspiration”, they tell us Lilian provides the designs and her partner, Iñaki, provides the workforce. “We started with jewelry and some commissions such as hand paint sneakers , and one fine day we said why not start making bags?” explains Iñaki.
6. Debosc (Anglès, Girona): a family passionate about wood is behind this firm. “Most of the products that we handcraft in wood are related to technology : accessories for laptops, mobiles, screens... It's more of a modern or contemporary crafts, because they don't have to be antagonistic concepts”, comments Lluís, who Debosc wears with his wife and his two daughters.
Promise Designs Bracelet
Amazon has a Handmade store in five European websites -Spain, Italy, United Kingdom, France and Germany- since 2016, as well as in North America -USA, Canada and Mexico-, with products from more than 50,000 artisans from 80 countries.
Each of the pieces, elaborated with care and extreme care, is carefully analyzed before joining the Handmade universe. Once in the portal, each handmade product has a location icon indicating where the artisan resides , as well as a link to his profile, where the most curious can immerse themselves in his story.
On the other hand, it should be noted that The Handmade Tour not only offers a wide range of handmade pieces (illustrations, clothing and accessories, furniture and decoration for the home, baby items...), but also those who want, they can perform a product customization (put a name, record a date or customize it), option available on one third of items.
Your turn has come: discover, stop by stop, which are the craft workshops that are part of The Handmade Tour and delight yourself with the relics that reside in each of them. On this artisan journey, dear traveller, the course is set by you. Shall we start?
The Horseshoe, Granada