page_title: Artà
section_title: Handicraft
hierarchical_section_title: Artà / Economy and infrastructure / Handicraft
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: eigenes Archiv(Alte Technik)
context_page_description: Artà is one of the 53 independent municipalities on the Spanish Balearic island of Majorca. The small town of the same name is the administrative seat of this municipality in the region of Llevant.
context_section_description: In the region around Artà the craft of basketry (Obra de llatra) has been preserved, along with pottery, as one of the oldest crafts on the island of Majorca. The remains of braided and woven plant fibres have been found in archaeological digs here. The main raw material in the western Mediterranean area is the native fan palm with its robust but flexible leaves. This one-metre-high species of palm occurs naturally on Majorca, especially between Manacor and Artà, and today is grown in large fields around the town of Artà.
  The leaves of the fan palm are collected in the months of June and July and first dried in the sun. When they have become a yellowish-white colour, they are separated into finer strands and sorted qualitatively. Next, the higher-quality palm strands are soaked in a mixture of water and chlorine, then sulphurised, which bleaches them further and makes them flexible enough to work.
  The now soft leaves, called palmito, are then woven into the basic shape of the basket using fixed stems or leaves at right angles to one another. By re-drying the leaves, they contract slightly, giving the mesh extra stability and density. Using coloured leaves or special techniques elaborate patterns are created, sometimes woven into the basic mesh or sometimes into a second or even third layer.
  The best-known products of the basket weaving industry include baskets, hats, backpacks, bags, etc. From the waste material, stalks and leaf parts are broken down into fibres to make brooms and rope. The baskets are sold in many of the markets on the island.
caption: Productos Artesanos Palmeros
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