Does anyone know where to find lacemakers in southern Spain? I'll be traveling in Andalucia from Madrid to Malaga to Toledo and back. Any advice or tips will be welcome.

you will find lace in Madrid at Plaza Major. I forget the name of the store. Go to the visitors center in the square. They also have beautiful silk shawls very reasonable, Malaga does not have lace. We did not care for Malaga, Tormelinos about 10 or 15 minutes away on the sea has beautiful lace in town. make sure you as if it was made in Spain or you might get china. in JToledo we sent a sword back to our home in Ca. It is the shop in the Jewish quarter not far from a hotel and next to the synagogues El transito. When you come down the hill the shop is the last shop on the right. If you go left the Synagogue is there in the square and the hotel is down past the Synagogue. This is the area. We also purchased Toledo Jewelry There are different qualities so ask. The people at the shop speak very good English if you find the right one and also ship you sword or shield.

Debra,<BR>What sort of items are you looking for? Small gifts like handerchiefs or pillow shams or larger, like placemats, tablecloths?<BR><BR>In the province of Toledo there's a small town, &quot;Lagartera&quot;, that is renowned for its lace production. All my sisters-in-law have pretty tablecloths from there (so do I, but only use it twice a yr). In the shops in Toledo ask for lace from Lagartera. The Lagartera tablecloths are also sold in all the El Corte Ingl&eacute;s dept. stores in Madrid.<BR><BR>While in Madrid, you might enjoy at least window shopping at my favorite embroidery shop, the &quot;Casa Bonet&quot; in the tony Salamanca district on Nu&ntilde;ez de Balboa 76, corner of Juan Bravo (metro: N de B). It's listed in Frommers. It's Mallorcan<BR>lace, (also a branch in Palma), and they're purveyors to the Royal Family. I buy placemats, coverlets, inexpensive gift items there,<BR><BR>On your way down from Toledo, if you're driving through La Mancha, the delightful and perfectly preserved 16th c village of Almagro, which is very worthy of a detour to see the plaza and its Corral de Comedias (a contemporary of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre), has lace production, brought to the town by the Flemish during the reign of Charles V. <BR>You'll see the ladies dressed in black sitting at their doorways engaged in this activity. The Parador there even offers embroidery classes from time to time.<BR><BR>If you plan to visit Sevilla, and you're in the market for a hand embroidered mantilla, a traditional lace headdress, or a silk shawl, a &quot;mant&oacute;n de Manila&quot;, you can find gorgeous ones there at Bordados Foronda (right, Olga?). But the genuine silk heirloom- quality article, hand embroidered in Seville rather than in China I've found to be terribly expensive! <BR>See them here:<BR>www.andalunet.com/foronda/ <BR>I bought my enormous black mant&oacute;n, 100% silk but embroidered in China, at the Corte Ingl&eacute;s for $120 on sale-I've worn it maybe twice-looks better draped over a grand piano...<BR><BR>For drooling at exquisite and expensive<BR>*real* silk shawls in Madrid, walk past Capas Sese&ntilde;a on the Calle de la Cruz near the Puerta del Sol. Some of the souvenir shops around Sol also sell small ones, but quality can be poor. El Corte Ingl&eacute;s is a reputable place or &quot;Casa Jim&eacute;nez&quot;, founded in '23, next door on Preciados.<BR><BR>Hope this gives you some ideas. Now Olga can give you much better insider info than I.