Miguel Fernández Fernández is a cave-builder who has worked in the trade for 23 years. He refurbishes caves in Guadix and environs (Benalúa, Fornelas, Alcudia de Guadix, etc.) and also in Granada.

The utensils that Miguel uses are a breaker hammer, a hand pick, a plumb… bob and string. The breaker hammer, for roughing out spaces underground, has been introduced into the trade as a time-saving novelty. He uses the hand pick for digging out the domes and vaults that bear the weight of the overlying soil. Depending on the technique employed and the terrain, the pick leaves marks of various kinds on the walls. Walls are often left de pico visto, i.e. with the marks remaining as decoration.

In making a cave the first step is to examine the hillside in which it is to be dug: the height and constituent materials (clay, sand, rock, etc.). Measurements are taken and the digging starts from the bottom with the extraction of earth and the gradual formation of a vaulted ceiling.

Another novelty in the cave dwellings he makes is the distribution of rooms. These were traditionally dug out adjacently and thus were directly interconnected, whereas Miguel digs passageways to separate the rooms more in keeping with today’s way of living. The caves he builds normally have from seven to nine separate rooms.