Imagination is one of Yolanda Izquierdo’s most important tools. Born in Capdepera, the Mallorcan now runs a Llata weaving workshop and shop in Cala Ratjada. Llata is the traditional craft of weaving dried dwarf palm fronds. German television journalist Sibylle Tiessen has dedicated the latest episode of her video series “The Mallorcans” to Izquierdo and her craft.
“I chose this work because I love seeing that you can make anything you can imagine with this material.”
Explaining the origins of the craft, Izquierdo says that pottery with pressed Llata edges dating back to the Palaeolithic period has been discovered. “Ropes were also made from dwarf palm fronds.”
During the last century, women would gather mainly in Capdepera and Artà, the island’s two centres of this traditional craft, to weave together. The tradition continues to this day. “Llata is also a cultural heritage,” says Izquierdo. This year, the Balearic government recognised the craft as intangible cultural heritage, while the Mallorca Island Council is helping to preserve it.
The Art de la Pauma association is working towards the same goal. Since 2019, it has brought together dwarf palm weavers in the Llevant Nature Park. The group now has 130 members and also offers Llata weaving courses.
“Working with Llata grounds you and helps you find peace,” says Izquierdo, who runs workshops in her shop in Cala Ratjada. Participants begin by making flat, circular pieces before moving on to creating their own designs. People of all ages, women and men take part. “I love watching people learn and seeing their faces light up when they manage to master the weaving,” she says.
Capdepera Castle is home to a Llata museum, which traces the history of the craft and displays products from different periods. In the past, Llata items were made both for use in the fields and at sea. Every Mallorcan household also had everyday and decorative objects made from the material, including baskets, sweet boxes, handbags, small suitcases and baby carriers.
Yolanda Izquierdo combines traditional techniques with contemporary designs. Her specialities include floral details, geometric shapes and tubular handles.
The raw material for the craft comes from the leaves of the dwarf palm known locally as garballó, which grows in the hills of north-eastern Mallorca and in the Tramuntana mountains. The fronds are harvested during the summer by pulling them away from the plant. This encourages a new, stronger frond to grow from the resulting hollow. The preferred leaves are the large, tightly closed ones found in the centre of the plant.
To gather material for her creations, Izquierdo visits places such as Cala Agulla, in the Llevant Nature Park, where she is authorised to collect the leaves.
She then takes the palm fronds to her finca, where she hangs them up to dry. The drying and bleaching process takes at least three weeks. When she is ready to make an item, Izquierdo places the required fronds in a sulphur oven. She lights the sulphur at the bottom, producing smoke that rises and penetrates the palm material. This makes the leaves whiter, softer and more pliable, allowing them to be worked more easily.
“For me, the most wonderful thing is seeing that I can bring my ideas to life,” says Izquierdo. Getting to this point has been a gradual process.
“I could already sew 20 years ago. Then I enrolled in Llata weaving courses, which opened up a much wider range of creative possibilities for me. Whenever opportunities arise, I take them. I am someone who believes in herself, in her ideas and in the importance of continuing to grow. I am happy. I do what fulfils me.”
COOPERATION WITH TUI
Support from the tourism industry: the video-project is sponsored by Europe's leading tourism group Tui and its Tui Care Foundation. The initiative was founded in 2016 with the aim of supporting sustainable projects in the destinations. The foundation focuses on the potential of the tourism sector as a driver of social development, education and prosperity. The Group promotes sustainable tourism in cooperation with local people.