The filandón
Drypoint on handmade paper of 320 g.
Dimensions of 30 x 30 cm.
Limited edition of 10 prints.

In the past, in Leon and Asturias (two regions located in the Northwest of Spain), there was the custom of gathering around the fire at the end of the day to tell stories, chat and drink typical liquors while women spun the wool or, as we say here in these regions, filaban. From this word comes the name filandón, by which these meetings between neighbors, friends and family members were known. With the advent of the radio and television, the filandón was gradually disappearing. However, in the recent years many initiatives have been developed to recover this beautiful tradition.

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El Bierzo Alto
Linocut print.
Hahnemühle paper of 300 g.
30 x 30 cm.
Limited edition of 50 prints.

My entire maternal family comes from El Bierzo Alto, a small region in northwestern Spain, bordered to the north by Asturias, to the west by Galicia, and to the east by León. El Bierzo covers an area of ​​2828 km², and almost 150000 inhabitants live there, about half of them in the capital, Ponferrada, well known for being an important transit point in the Way of Saint James. But, more specifically, my maternal family comes from Colinas, a beautiful village located in the heart of the Sierra de Gistredo.

With the passing of time and the new needs imposed by modern life, my grandparents came down from the mountains and built a house in the vicinity of Bembibre, a small town close to Ponferrada. Near their house, my grandparents bought a vineyard, La Viña, where they planted a mimosa tree, under which all of us who came along grew up playing. A few kilometres from our vineyard is Folgoso, the birthplace of my cousins’ grandparents. In fact, it was their grandfather, Ser Puente, who made the name of Folgoso famous in all the region thanks to the incredible handcrafted nativity scene he built.

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