Known for her hats, Ana de León has never missed an appointment at the Mancha Blanca Island Crafts Fair. Since this exhibition was held for the first time, more than twenty years ago, Ana de León has always been present. In fact, in 2007, she was honored by the Cabildo de Lanzarote at the fair itself, highlighting her work. An honor that, according to Ana de León herself, she received "with great affection".
Ana de León, 77 years old, has spent practically her entire life making hats. At the age of 26, she decided to start in this craft. "In my town they made roses and I didn't have the hands for it, because the thread got tangled," explains De León. For this reason, and thanks to an aunt who was dedicated to making hats for the people of the town of Los Valles, where Ana also resides, she started as a hatter. Little by little, she began to specialize. "My aunt introduced me to hats. She made country hats, but later I started making other types of hats," says this artisan.
In fact, she says that she now makes "many types of hats" that she not only sells in Lanzarote, but also in other parts of the Archipelago. She even says that she has traveled with her hats to other Spanish cities such as Barcelona. "I have also been abroad, to the United Kingdom, to Prague...?", says De León.
Quite a process
What this artisan does emphasize is that making hats is not "easy at all". And, according to her, creating a hat involves a process that can take her about "three or four days". "You have to request the palm heart, open the leaves, put it in the sun to dry, collect them at night by the dew and take them out again in the morning to then peel them, and then make the tiny strips, to make the hat. Then it takes thread, wax, ribbon...?", explains De León.
Practically all of Ana de León's sales are made to order. In fact, she says that she has not yet noticed the effects of the crisis. "I get orders from all over the place. I have quite a few sales, although from now on I don't know how things will go." In addition, she adds, "more and more people are making hats." "Before, there was practically no one," she says.
Even so, Ana de León will be back this year at the XXII Mancha Blanca Island Crafts Fair showing her range of hats and trying to sell them. "I have always sold, although it is true that some years I sell more than others, but I usually sell about six or seven hats," explains this artisan, who assures that, to date, she is "happy with the behavior of the organizers" in this exhibition. "I like it. If not, at my age, I wouldn't go", concludes De León.