A Grazalema blanket ( es, manta de Grazalema), also known as Grazalema cloth ( es, paño de Grazalema) is a type of striped brown and beige thick cloth that was particularly popular between the 17th and 19th centuries. It takes its name from the town of its origin,

Grazalema Grazalema is a village located in the northeastern part of the province of Cádiz, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Situated in the foothills of the Sierra del Pinar mountain range (Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park), Grazalema ...

, one of the main manufacturing centres of wool products in Spain. Using wool from the region as raw material and since Grazalema is one of the rainiest places in Spain, this water was used to wash the wool, producing exceptional results. Author

Blasco Ibáñez Blasco is a surname which roots can be found it in Aragon, more specifically in the Jaca's mountains. People * Blasco de Garay, Spanish navy captain and inventor * Blasco de Grañén, Aragonese painter * Blasco Gardéliz de Ezcároz, bishop of ...

made multiple references to the blankets and capes of Grazalema, and

Julio Romero de Torres Julio Romero de Torres (9 November 1874 – 10 May 1930) was a Spanish painter. His brothers, Rafael and , also became painters. Biography He was the son of Rafael Romero Barros, a painter who served as Director of the Fine Arts Museum of ...

wrote about how before a fire destroyed the municipal archive of Grazalema, it had contained the Royal Decree by means of which

Philip V Philip V may refer to: * Philip V of Macedon (221–179 BC) * Philip V of France (1293–1322) * Philip II of Spain, also Philip V, Duke of Burgundy (1526–1598) * Philip V of Spain Philip V ( es, Felipe; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was ...

had granted privileges to those who made textiles and wool products in the town. The coats of the approximately 65,000 ''

tercio A ''tercio'' (; Spanish for " third") was a military unit of the Spanish Army during the reign of the Spanish Habsburgs in the early modern period. The tercios were renowned for the effectiveness of their battlefield formations, forming the el ...

'' soldiers during the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Refo ...

were made out of Grazalema cloth. It is said that between Grazalema and

Benamahoma Benamahoma (Arabic “Sons of Muhammad”), one of the White Towns of Andalusia, is a town of some 400 inhabitants in Cádiz province, Spain. It is located 5 km from El Bosque, Cádiz, and lies within the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park. C ...

there lived about 9,000 people dedicated to what today would be called auxiliary industries: dyeing, spinning, perching, flocking etc. People had looms in their houses where the whole family wove, which they would later take to the factories to finish them. Currently, only one company, Artesanía Textil de Grazalema, produces blankets. It is the oldest artisan textile company in Spain. Part of the blanket production is exported to the United Kingdom,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and the Netherlands.

Bibliography

References

{{reflist, 2 Spanish clothing Wool