This is why handheld fans in Spain are enjoying undimmed popularity

As passengers wilted in a packed Madrid metro, one traveller defied the summer heat by snapping open her handheld fan — a quintessential Spanish accessory enjoying undimmed popularity. The burst of coolness drew envious eyes to a must-have item that has retained its relevance thanks to designer creativity and increasingly oppressive summer temperatures, stoked by climate change.

“Everyone uses a fan here in Spain — children, the elderly, young people, men,” said Arturo Llerandi, owner of the “Casa de Diego” fan boutique in Madrid. “Why? Because it’s hot... It’s hotter across Europe and you see fans everywhere.” Llerandi’s bustling shop, which has been located in the centre of the Spanish capital for more than two centuries, boasts 10,000 different models of fans.

Bone and lace versions are aimed at women and smaller versions cater to men, all diminutive enough to slip into a jacket pocket, with the most luxurious costing up to 6,000 euros ($7,000). With temperatures close to 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) regularly assailing Madrid in July, the idea of buying a fan as a gift was a no-brainer for customer Carmen Pulido. “It’s something to have forever...

Pedestrians walk past the window of Casa de Diego hand fan store in Madrid.

Lately, it’s become essential,” said the 62-year-old legal assistant. For pensioner Rosa Nunez, 69, the “good old fan” has remained her best friend after the batteries of her electronic alternative died. “With handheld fans, the battery runs for a lifetime,” she said with a smile.

Olivier Bernoux, a designer who heads a luxury fan store in Madrid, acknowledged the accessory has “a heavy legacy... perceived as an old object, for the elderly”. But they are “not kitsch, nor for old women”, insisted the man whose celebrity clients include pop idol Madonna and US actor Eva Longoria. “Even in New York you find fans due to climate change because you have to find a way to cool down,” said Bernoux.

His global customer base brings different expectations. “Men are more classic”, while Spanish women “are more sensitive to the noise” made when fans are unfurled, he said.

French luxury hand fan designer Olivier Bernoux works on one of his fan creation.

“For the ‘Miami’ American woman customer, large fans are a must-have, while the French are particularly attracted to all our linen creations,” Bernoux continued.

At Madrid’s Pride festival in July, some dancers snapped their fans to the rhythm of the music before spectators waving rainbow-coloured equivalents, illustrating how the humble object can also be used to convey messages. “The fan has always been fundamental for us and the community. It has always been an icon,” said Pedro Pontes, a 31-year-old waiter.

Ecuadoran journalist Erika von Berliner, who lives in Madrid, sees her fan as a “very elegant” accessory. “You hold something very beautiful that goes with your clothes and if you know how to use it well, with elegance, so much the better,” the 49-year-old enthused.

Arturo Llerandi, owner of Casa de Diego, poses outside his hand fan store in Madrid.

Bernoux agreed, emphasising what he identified as the object’s “sensuality”. “The very opening and closing of a fan is a marvellous gesture that will attract attention,” he said, advising users to sprinkle perfume on theirs. “On public transport, you take out your fan and it makes a tough moment an easier one,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Spanish authorities lifted lockdown measures for thousands of villagers in the northeastern Catalonia region on Wednesday as firefighters began taming a forest fire raging for a third day. The blaze that started on Monday has burned more than 3,300 hectares (8,154 acres) in Tarragona province, with the protected Els Ports natural park making up around one-third of the affected area, Catalan countryside rangers said.

A stay-at-home order for around 18,000 people decreed on Tuesday was lifted except for the municipality of Pauls, where residents were allowed to go outside but not leave the locality, the Catalan civil protection authority announced on X.

Catalonia’s fire service said it had “stabilised” the blaze but continued to work with ground units, helicopters and aeroplanes on several hotspots, including cliffs and areas that are hard to access.

Scientists say human-induced climate change is increasing the intensity, length and frequency of the extreme heat that fuels forest fires.

Spain recently sweltered through a heatwave that parched the land, while national weather agency AEMET said last month that it was the country’s hottest June on record.

According to the European Forest Fire Information System, around 500 fires destroyed 300,000 hectares in Spain in 2022, a record for the continent.

Around 21,000 hectares have burned so far this year.

Meanwhile, International holidaymakers are keeping Spaniards off their own sun-kissed beaches due to ever-rising hotel and rental prices during an unprecedented tourism boom. Spain’s top 25 Mediterranean and Atlantic coast destinations saw local tourism drop by 800,000 people last year whereas foreign visitors rose 1.94 million, according to previously unreported official data reviewed by analysis firm in Atlas.

The trend looks sure to continue as the world’s second-most visited country — after France — anticipates a record 100 million foreign visitors this year. “Prices have risen outrageously. The whole Spanish coast is very expensive,” said Wendy Davila, 26. She cancelled an “exorbitant” trip with her boyfriend in Cadiz on the south coast for a cheaper visit to the inland city of Burgos, famed for its Gothic cathedral and the tomb of 11th century commander El Cid.

“Now you don’t go on holiday wherever you want, but wherever you can,” added Davila, who is nostalgic for childhood beach holidays in Alicante on the Mediterranean. With a population of 48 million — half the number of foreign visitors each year - Spain relies heavily on tourism, which contributes more than 13% of GDP.

But protests are growing over housing shortages exacerbated by mass tourism - and could be exacerbated by the indignity for Spaniards being priced out of their favourite holidays.

Agence France-Presse