Julio Martínez Martínez has been doing natural stonework for over 20 years. He normally works with a type of granite unique to northern Galicia known as tomillo.

Stonecraft is one of the world’s oldest trades, and Julio Martínez continues to use its age-old techniques as well… as more modern devices. His tools can include flat chisels, pneumatic utensils, bullnose chisels and power tools.

Most of the work he does in his workshop is for religious imagery, such as the well-known stone cruceiro wayside crosses that have sprung up across Galicia over the last few centuries. But his output also includes items such as mouldings and capitals.

Stonework is a craft involving wide technical expertise, ranging from the quarrying of rock to the last stroke of the chisel on a finished article.