Spanish Journey Part Two
1. Castellar de la Frontera

Narrator
In Spain there are many castles, but few shelter a proper village within their walls. Castellar de la Frontera is one of these. Paloma Hidalgo Hidalgo has lived here for many years.

Paloma Hidalgo
The walls of this village date back to the 13th century: it was built by the Arabs when the Nazari kingdom reigned in Granada, in the 1200s. Then it became a military fortress.

Inka Martí
Why is this village called Castellar de la Frontera? Or rather, why are there so many villages in Spain that are called 'something-of-the-frontier'?

Paloma Hidalgo
Castellar, like Jerez, and like many other village, as you say, were on the frontier between the Christian kingdom and the Nazari kingdom. As the Reconquest progressed, they took away the little villages, and by the end, the Arab kingdom was reduced to the small bastion of Andalusia.

Inka Martí
How curious! Hello.

Girl
Hello.

Inka Martí
You're doing a very hard job here.

Girl
Yes, we're painting.

Inka Martí
Is it a training project?

Girl
Yes, there are modules, plastering and painting - that's us. There is a masonry module, electricity, carpentry and plumbing modules.

Inka Martí
Do you enjoy doing up a village of your own, a village in your home country?

Girl 
Yes, so that it is well-kept, not falling down or anything like that.

Inka Martí
Thanks very much. Isn't the girls' work interesting? Is it difficult to find work in the village?

Paloma Hidalgo
Yes, it is indeed, in the village and in particular the whole of Andalusia.

Inka Martí
Why, what is there to normally?

Paloma Hidalgo
Here there are a lot of people doing craftwork. A lot of us are artisans and it's the only way to more or less live with independent means.

Inka Martí
Yes…

Narrator
In this modest village workshop, Ángel Dorado makes exclusive jewelry for designers like Cartier.

Inka Martí
What do you like most about Castellar?

Ángel Dorado
What I like most about Castellar is the peace and quiet which allows you to do anything you want to. It allows you to observe the smallest details and gives you the patience you need to get to the very essence of things.

Inka Martí
From what jewelry in the past have you taken inspiration to create your own pieces?

Ángel Dorado
Possibly Romanic jewelry, or even the Iberian jewelry that was around in Spain 2,000 years ago. It was very beautiful. It is hard to believe their pieces were very similar to work by the Mayans or something along those lines.

Inka Martí
Your work is very fine. That's beautiful, isn't it? Because normally people don't think artisans should necessarily be doing fine work, do they?

Ángel Dorado
The truth is that the best work is done by hand, because things can only be well done if done by hand. There isn’t a machine in existence that can imitate a hand at work.

[music]