Albaida
The following stop in this route is the town of Albaida.
Wax industry has been and is an important activity in Albaida. At the
beginning of the 20th century, this town led the national wax production
and competed with important production centres, such as Barcelona. Most
of the companies of that time were family and traditional companies.
These types of companies still exist today.
The system of handmade production involves taking a cotton wick (it lights quickly) and dip it into wax. You have to repeat this action until the candle has the right diameter. Finally, the candle is decorated to give the piece a good finish.
Nowadays, a series of changes have been introduced in the industry. The most important one is the replacement of bee's wax by paraffin. Specially noteworthy is the introduction of other methods which supplement traditional methods. The first one is the use of moulds where the paraffin is poured when it is hot. When the mould is cold to the touch, the candle is ready. The second method is the use of paraffin in powder form, that is compacted in different moulds to obtain different pieces and shapes.
The obtained products have also suffered changes. For example, they do no produce cleaning wax any more, because of the apparition of substitute products. Candles used to light the houses lose this function and today they make decorative candles and perfume candles with great designs. On the other hand, they still produce candles for religious or ceremonial purposes. Wax industry is also established in other towns of “La Vall d’Albaida” region, such as Agullent, Ontinyent, Palomar, Guadassèquies and l’Olleria.
If you want to acquire wax products in Albaida, please phone these companies: Cerería Vila Hermanos (0034 962901560); Nieves Revert Rodríguez (0034 962901385); Santiago Mollá Blanquer (0034 962901096); Sucesores de Navarro y Compañía (0034 962901468).
Regarding the handicrafts typical of Albaida, we can also talk about the traditional confectionery that you can taste in every patisserie of the town.
