Devastating flood in the Region of Valencia, 29.11.2024 - the day after.
<< We have a metre and a half of mud in the workshop. We're getting support from people like you wouldn't believe. A legion of volunteers, getting mud up to the top, cleaning... Some days we had 30 or 40 people cleaning with brushes, with shovels, with wheelbarrows, removing mud... People are coming from Alicante, from Burgos, from Santander, from Salamanca... But it's not cleaning the mud, it's starting all over again>>
So explained to me a direct witness of the devastating flood tragedy on 29th October. She is a fan-maker, carrying on the business started by her great-grandparents. She lives in Aldaya, a village of 32,000 people 10km from Valencia. Aldaya is one of the 70 Valencian municipalities affected by the devastating floods we have seen in the media these days.
Aldaya belongs to the district of Huerta Sur (vegetable patch south). The municipality, which is very flat, is crossed from north to south by the Chiva ravine (also known as the Poyo channel) and, to the south of the town, by the Aldaia or La Saletta channel. The orchards are irrigated by the Benáguer irrigation channel, which comes from Cuart de Poblet. From the northwest, the Sargueta channel ends near the railway station (source: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldaya)
As you can read, there are waterways everywhere. When the water rises, the Chiva channels floods and the water enters Aldaya. The neighbours are used to the water rising, sometimes up to half a metre, and they protect their ground floors with barriers.
For years, residents and the local council have been asking for the canal to be diverted, fearing a catastrophe like the one we have seen in recent days. Unfortunately for them and other neighbouring communities, this request has never been granted and the desired diversion has not come in time.
Existence at risk
<<We are very much affected at the employment level. Some of us are going to be forced to close our workshops because of the difficulties to continue working. Others will be affected because their suppliers and collaborators are affected. >>
The area affected by the terrible floods lives from agriculture and industry.
There are many small family businesses, passed down from generation to generation.
Most of the fan manufacturing in Spain and Europe is concentrated in Aldaya. There are only a few manufactures dedicated to the production of fan monture.. Until 28 October 2024 there were four. They use machinery dating from the beginning of the 20th century, machinery which is no longer in production today.
There are many more small workshops dedicated to the finishing of certain parts of the fan: weaving, engraving, lacquering, fabric embroidery and decoration with lace, painting, etc. -In the making of a fan, up to 7 people can be envolved in the making of a fan, depending on the level of of finish required. These craftsmen work on the fan by hand. One cannot progress without the other. A real team work! Sometimes they help themselves with small machines and tools that they have inherited from their parents and grandparents.
Most of them have their workshops on the ground floor of the buildings. Some of their parents still live on the upper floors. The floodwater in Aldaya reached up to 2 metres in its streets and interiors. The old workshops, the machines, the material and the years of work have been washed away.
<< We are still next to the channel. Who can guarantee me that next year, after this year's effort, the same thing won't happen again?>> << Until when? When will the next flood come?>>
Our fan maker's workshop is located on the ground floor of the family house bought by her grandparents. It specialises in the fabrics and embroidery of the fan. The fan's frame is the basis of the piece, but this fan cannot exist without someone who joins its frames with fabric. Weaving is one of the most important steps in the production process.
The Guild of Fan Makers of Aldaya
<<Some people have lost their whole life's work..>>
The Aldaya fan makers have already had to suffer a serious economic crisis, a pandemic and now, the terrible effects of the devastating flood.
The Aldaya fan makers are organised in the Guild of Spanish Fan Makers, which has a 200 years of history. Some of its members have lost their workshops. Others have been seriously damaged. Those most affected are considering ceasing their activity in view of the high costs and the effort they have to face and the uncertainty that the catastrophe will be repeated in the coming years.
Fewer and fewer craftsmen are involved making fans. Many of them will reach retirement age in the coming years. It is one of the endangered trades.
In the years following the pandemic, the demand for fans increased considerably. The fan-makers had never seen anything like this before and had not been able to keep up with customer demand due to a lack of manpower. Young people no longer want to work in the trades.
The meaning of the fan for Valencians
The fan is not only a practical object against high temperatures - also caused by climate change - but it is also one of the oldest fashion accessories of mankind and a work of art in itself. In Valencia, the fan is a tradition that has been passed down from parents to their children for years:
On the occasion of baptism or communion, it is customary for the family to give the child a personalised fan;
A fan is always found in the handbag of a Valencian woman;
Valencian families keep precious pieces from their ancestors;
A Valencian bride will never walk down the aisle without her exquisitely crafted bridal fan.
The luxurious regional costume of the Valencian woman is always complemented by an elaborate fan.
The fan manufakturing has been concentrated here since the beginning of the 20th century. The fan is also a very Spanish emblem - who doesn't think of Spain when they see a fan?
If we want to continue to enjoy a beautiful fan in our hands, made in a sustainable way and by expert hands in Europe, we need to support the artisans of Aldaya now more than ever. Only they can maintain and pass on the legacy they have learnt from their parents, so that we can continue to enjoy quality fans and so that the tradition of fan making is not lost.
Crowdfunding campaign
To the friends of the fan today I invite you to participate in the campaign to help the Spanish fan masters who have lost their family legacy and their work these days.
GREMIO MAESTROS ABANIQUEROS
IBAN: ES92 3159 0035 2922 7267 1229
BIC/SWIF: BCOEESMM159
Betreff / Referenz: DANA
Caixa Popular de Aldaia (Avda. Hernán Cortés)
The bank transfer is free of charge for accounts in the European Union.
Or through the growdfunding platform: https://gofund.me/3800560c
Why get involved?
To support families in need- Because every fan is tradition and art and we can't afford to lose.
To preserve a unique craft
To maintain jobs
To support and maintain the local product made in a sustainable way
So that we can continue to buy QUALITY FANS MADE IN SPAIN, a product that is so much our own!
<< What is recovered will be distributed to those affected, to help those who want to start again or to restore what they have, so that the cultural heritage is not lost>>.
Gota fria (Cold Drop)
A Gota fría, also known as a DANA - short for 'isolated high level depression' - is a meteorological phenomenon in which a mass of air completely detached from a very cold flow descends on a warm flow, causing large atmospheric disturbances accompanied by very heavy precipitation. The cold droplets may remain almost stationary for days or occasionally move westwards in the opposite direction to the prevailing air flow (i.e. backwards).
Resource für pictures El Pais en YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cccF5RYEq0g
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