The “Plaza de España” is one of the best known places of Gata. Ahead of it runs the National Highway 332, so thousands of people pass through this place everyday and that is so important for the local economy every day.
If something characterizes the town, it is the crafts that, for many years, marked the way of life thanks to all the factories that existed. It came to have 10 hat factories, two guitar factories, seven handbag factories, and one furniture factory, among many others.
You cannot miss the palm and wicker shops on the road, such as Artesanía Maruja or Montserrat. In the 1950s and 1960s, the entrance to the town was quite a spectacle, full of wicker shops on each side with all the bags, hats and baskets hanging in their windows or scattered around their doorways.
Today it remains so, with its same essence and its same craft products. More than a square, it is an open-air shopping center that continues to attract thousands of tourists every year in search of artisan products.
You will also find bars and restaurants, wine sales, raisins, cavas and other products related to the land such as El Celler de La Marina.
El Celler de La Marina
We spoke with Ángeles Guillem, a shopkeeper in the plaza. She tells us that “wicker and esparto grass have fed many families”. And the truth is that Gata has acquired a certain reputation thanks to the many families that have dedicated themselves to crafts over the years.
Ángeles, who used to live in Valencia, came to the town in 2009 attracted by an indelible image: that of the Plaza de España when her parents stopped to buy in the stores packed with goods and full of customers.
She was from 2009 to 2011 working in another store in the square, when she became unemployed she decided to open a business in the place. “We wanted to open it here because we were attracted by the tradition of Gata and we saw that this was an ideal place”. For her it is a privilege that the premises are at the foot of the road because “you don’t have to go looking for customers, they pass by at all hours”. From his point of view, “this location is like being next to the Corte Inglés in Valencia.” He even states that “there are those who travel 60-70 kilometers to come and what they are looking for is the product from here.”
The store where she sells national products, especially from the area, is called Recycling Decoration. The baskets, jarapas (rugs made from leftover fabric), decorative objects, hats and jewelry are purchased from distributors in the region.
As she relates, tourists of different nationalities come to the place, especially French and English who live in the area or Dutch and Germans of all ages. “I am still surprised by those who spend the summer in Benidorm and other towns in the area and come here on purpose.”
The explanation may be that the approach to the square, for those who are not from Gata, is quite an experience. Visiting its shops helps a lot to learn about the past and present of a town devoted to crafts and commercial activity since time immemorial.