The handicrafts tradition is rooted in the scarce resources that the island had to offer. Although this meant that handicrafts have evolved through limited means, Lanzarote is home to a rich tradition of ceramic ware; woven products (such as mats, basket and cheese-moulds made from palm leaves, reeds and straw); and a textile tradition which includes embroidery, needlework, crocheted rosettes and lace.

Calado and bordado are styles of embroidery and needlework which are rarely seen nowadays. Traditionally, cloth was hand-stitched with floral motives in a time-consuming process which demanded enormous reserves of patience and attention to detail. The most common form of embroidery still seen today is the hand-stitched rosetas – the rosettes which decorate a variety of linen, from coasters to tablecloths.

New forms of handicrafts are flourishing along with traditional handicrafts which no longer have the same, mainly domestic, function they had in the past. Modern pottery still bears the same light ochre colouring and is engraved with the same themes of old. The ceramics are hand-crafted without the use of a potter’s wheel; the only utensils used are the callaos – stones that have been polished by the erosive action of the sea –these help sculpt the shapes and provide a smooth finish. The traditional clay ovens and bernegales, the earthenware water filters, are the only examples of traditional pottery still in use today