Basque ethnography at a glance

Hermitage of St Salvador in Ardanaz (Izagaondoa, Navarre), whose roof was restored a few decades ago using tiles manufactured in Aizpe. Fernando Hualde.

Certain trades from the past are disappearing; modern times sweep them away without mercy. And with them go the works, yards or factories where those activities used to be carried out. Whole villages might in fact be lost, and also the people who worked and lived there or knew about them.

This is exactly what happened with the roof tile factory of Aizpe, in Lower Urraúl (Navarre). The tile makers departed this life, the factory vanished in thin air, the village is nowhere to be seen, and him who as a child and teenager stored memories of that place passed away a few months ago… Gone is the last witness of it all.

The roofs of some, not many, houses in the surrounding villages are still covered with tiles which were hand-crafted in Aizpe.

Being what I am, I felt the impulse to pick and keep one such tile. Moreover, I also felt the impulse to gather and preserve the memory of the village, the factory, and the tile makers. Seeing and realizing that the passage of time blurred and diluted memories, people, and in this case, even human landscape, I refused to look away. The only memories of that place remained with one person who, like all others, was just a passing bird, and I certainly took my share of responsibility; so I approached him, placed a camera in front of him, and asked him to narrate all his memories of the factory, the tile makers, and the technique they used. The said factory disappeared in 1949.

Tile factory of Aizpe (Urraúl Bajo, Navarra). Courtesy of the author.

Salvador Fuertes Goñi, born in Induráin (Izagaondoa), left us recently, in full confinement, without giving us time to say goodbye. His death once again highlighted the need and importance of safeguarding the memory of a crucial generation which is fading away.

The vivid memory of the old tile factory lives on with us thanks to Salvador:

The family who ran the factory were from Alicante, and there they would stay from September to March, during the turron season; and in Aizpe they would stay from March to September, manufacturing tiles, solid bricks and adobe bricks.

The clay would be dug up 200 meters further up, at the foot of the rock of Guerguitiáin. It was carried by donkeys in large wooden boxes which opened from the base.

To make the adobes, the clay was dumped in tubs made from wood and mixed well with very finely chopped straw; it needed to be as fine as the straw discharged by a wheat thresher; then the tubs were levelled, some canvas was placed under them, and blocks like bricks were moulded out. The blocks were not baked in the oven but allowed to dry naturally from the air and the sun, turning them every once in a while.

To make the tiles, pools were dug in the ground and the clay unloaded inside them; then water was poured in, and they stamped on it to make the mixture. And the mixed clay was used for making the tiles. In case of rain, they were allowed to dry under the long eaves along the road, without fear of them getting wet; and when the sun shined, they were arranged in the yard outside the factory, stacked up two by two, and leaning against each other.

The tiles were baked in the oven. It was a ceramic oven; at the bottom, it was loaded with firewood, usually boxwood. And the baking chamber was at the top; there they were placed two by two, one leaning against the other; to make good use of the space they were packed, one pair standing on the broad end, the pair next to it standing on the narrow end. And how did they know when they were baked? Well, when the flames in the lower chamber reached the upper mouth.

Fernando Hualde – Ethnographer – Labrit Heritage

Translated by Jaione Bilbao – Ethnography Department – Labayru Fundazioa

A previous post titled Traditional symbolism of the roof tile by Daniel Rementeria might likewise be of interest.