“Hilacar” is an artisan textile workshop that was born of a personal project of Ana Martínez. Martínez, having spent the period 1986-88 undertaking a series of studies and apprenticeships aimed at honing her skills in the techniques of both vertical and horizontal weaving, finally acquired, in 1990, the necessary machinery to allow her to take on in the highly demanding undertaking of opening the first workshop in Pampaneira, which she then moved to Bubión in 2000. Alongside her activities within the artisan textile industry, Martínez’s initiative led her to set up an artisan shop to complement the “Hilacar” workshop, and in which she sold work made by other artisans from the Alpujarras, in an attempt to promote local products.
Using natural base materials such as woolly cotton, wool and strips of cotton cloth, in “Hilacar” Martínez weaves carpets, rugs, bath mats, bags, tapestries, artwork, curtains and cushions finished off with tassels and other decorative touches, as well as the typical “jarapas” of the Alpujarras for curtains or bedspreads. The range of colours and different designs lend her work considerable aesthetic value.