Process of elaboration and manufacture of the pieces:

The raw material (clay) is extracted from caves, choosing the best clays – those with an orangey blue colour, which are the strongest. Depending on the piece which is to be manufactured, this raw material may be combined… with a different softer type of clay.

They place the clay in basins and cover it in water. To knead the material, it is first chipped with a pick manually, it is then taken out of the basin and afterwards pressed to obtain the maximum homogeneity of all the clay. It is pressed two or three times and then covered for it to ferment. The following day the clay is finally ready to be worked on to manufacture bricks, floors and tiling. 

The utensils used to manufacture the pieces are: a wooden mould for two-unit bricks, a squared one for the floor tiles – of different sizes – and for the tiling, a wooden base or muerto, a gradilla (a special kind of mould for bricks) to make the clay plate, and a galápago (a special kind of mould for tiles) to shape the tile, a rasero (a kind of ruler to bring the pieces into line) to eliminate the exceeding material of the gradilla, and water and limazo (fine sand from watercourses).

After manufacturing the pieces they are placed on mantillos (flat surfaces where the pieces are placed and are left to dry in the sun).

Once dry, the pieces are placed in the kiln. The key of this part of the process is to leave some pathways, so the pieces end well-fired. The doors of the kiln are closed with clay and straw so that no heat escapes from the firing process. Marc and olive stones are used to fuel the fire of the kiln. 

After several days of firing, the pieces are left to cool and the doors which were closed with clay and straw are opened. 

Then, the only remaining part of the process is the extraction of the fired material. 

They use pigments which are already prepared, depending on the colour the client has requested. They are dissolved in water, and are mixed to thicken them to then proceed to enamel the pieces. Finally, they are put back into the kiln and fired again.