Cool Craft Market at the Cigarreras

I was walking along Calle Castaños the other day when I spotted a poster in a shop window advertising the Cool Craft Market.  This event was to be held in the garden of Las Cigarreras, a converted old tabacco factory near the bullring.  I had never heard of either the market or the venue so I went to find out last weekend when the event was on.  It annoys me that new places and events aren't very well advertised over here and you either hear by word of mouth or by keeping your eyes peeled for the odd poster or two).

The market was quite small but there were a few interestesting local 'crafters'.  I always think of crafts in a rather British way (there is not really a Spanish word that describes crafts... the nearest would be manualidades) and the Spanish are only just catching on to it.

When I first came to live in Alicante nearly 9 years ago the place, mindset and attitude was rather different.  There were absolutely no second hand shops and the idea of 'one man's trash is another man's treasure' was completely absurd and out of the question!  Now this has changed with the economic crisis.  But now with so many people without jobs in general and with youth unemployment at almost 60%, people are finding ways to make a living by practical means.

Traditionally, Spanish housewives generally used to embroider or crochet as part of their daily life and also as a social occasion as they used to get together with other women to do these passtimes.  In the last decades though lots of women went out to work to help raise the family income and didnt learn or have time for crafts.  I do see a bit of a change in attitude nowadays and I think alot of inspiration comes from the importance and trend of crafting in the UK and the US.

A few stands that I saw at the craft market were:

-Belles Tentations.  You can check out the blog.

-Carmen Zu.  She has a facebook page where you can find out more information about her knitted crafts.

-El Árbol del Jabón.  Handmade soaps also custom-made for wedding and holy communion gifts.

There were also exhibitions of artwork, sculptures and installations in the large open space inside Las Cigarreras.  I will go back another day to see what more this cultural centre has to offer as the renovated building and its funky garden is just the sort of think that I like!