Sunday 28 May will be the last time that the little craft fair in the square by the sea front at the end of Avenida Jaime I in the port (Puerto) of Jávea, will be set up in the morning. After that they take a short break and on Friday the 9th of June they will come back, but now in the afternoons and they will stay the whole summer.
For the fifth year running Amata (the regional craft association) joins forces with the local shopkeepers to liven up the promenade along the sea front with a craft fair. A real craft fair, with real craft workers who make what they sell and hope to sell what they make. Not for nothing has Amata chosen the slogan “Artesanía de Autor®” to announce their fairs, which means that what you see is made by the man or woman on the stall – nothing imported, nothing made by friends or from a small factory.
The stalls can vary from week to week but you will find stalls with leather bags, leather belts, original lamps from recycled material, rag dolls, wooden toys and puppets, jewelry from silver, copper, ceramics, macramé or dried orange peel, hand painted designer clothes and even some paintings and sculptures. Many of the people on the stalls bring their tools and can add a name or a detail to a chosen item, or, if you can wait a few days, you can get them to make something to order.
Amata was set up in 1998 and remains true to its original philosophy, which is that only goods made by the people on the stalls can be sold on the craft fairs it organizes – not something that can be said of many other craft fairs. That is why more and more aficionados have come to appreciate this special quality – the quality of a gallery even if it is sold in the street from a stall.
Different stalls come for the whole summer, or just a few weeks so as to combine a few weeks at the beach with the possibility of earning a living. It’s a varied show, week by week. Never boring.
A visit to the market can be combined with a stroll to the port (with its fishing boats and fish market) and back along the promenade with its attractive bars and restaurants, shops and terraces, to enjoy the cool sea breezes and watch all the other visitors walking, jogging and cycling along. And, if you like modern architecture, you can have a look at the Virgen de Loreto church, a concrete structure shaped like a ship!
The market starts on 9 June; in the beginning it opens only in the weekend, but from Thursday the 22nd of June they are there every evening till 6 September (except for a few days when the locals celebrate their fiestas) and opens at 7 in the evening till midnight. For further details ring 639 979 678 (and Elvira speaks English) and photographs of what was on offer in last years’ market you can find on http://www.amata.es/JaveaSum16.html.
