Menorca has a long industrial and craft tradition, linked above all to shoes and costume jewellery, which employed much of the population in the twentieth century before tourism.
Avarcas
Avarcas (avarques in Catalan) are Menorca's traditional sandals: a sole originally made from car tyres, a leather upper covering the toes and a strap behind the heel. Born as farmers' footwear, comfortable and tough, in recent decades they have become fashionable across Spain and abroad, made in countless colours and with modern soles. The best are handmade in island workshops, especially in Ciutadella, Ferreries and Alaior.
Shoes and leather goods
Since the nineteenth century Menorca has produced quality shoes, with factories working for international luxury brands, mainly in Ciutadella, Alaior and Ferreries. Many have factory shops and outlets. Leather goods, bags and belts, are another speciality.
Other craft traditions
- Costume jewellery, born in Mahón and Es Castell, with small firms making metal and silver jewellery.
- Ceramics, with traditional pots and tableware, and contemporary potters' workshops.
- Dwarf-palm basketry, wild-olive woodcarving and the wild-olive wood field gates, barreres, that close the fields.
- Mahón cheese and gin, the island's artisan products (see food and gin).
Where to buy
- The summer evening craft markets in the harbours of Mahón and Ciutadella and, in rotation, the villages, such as Es Mercadal, Ferreries, Alaior and Fornells.
- The Centre Artesanal de Menorca in Es Mercadal, displaying and selling the work of island artisans.
- Shops in central Ciutadella and Mahón, and factory outlets. See also places to visit.