The Federation of Craftsmen's Organisations of Castilla y León - FOACAL is a non-profit organisation created in 1987 to promote the professional and commercial development of the craft sector in the autonomous community. FOACAL brings together associations and professional craftsmen from the 9 provinces of Castilla y León. At present, FOACAL brings together 13 professional craftsmen associations in the Autonomous Community, as well as a significant number of individual craftsmen, totalling 200 companies and professionals throughout the Community.
The Federation represents a sector which, according to a report by the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade, generates around 6,000 jobs in Castilla y León and is involved in most of the Community's economic activities, including audiovisual and performing arts, historical and artistic cultural heritage, fashion and accessories, music, traditional cultural objects, architecture and construction.
FOACAL, since its foundation, has been an essential agent in the development of the craft sector and in the design of the rules governing crafts in Castilla y León. Thus, the Federation began its activity collaborating with the Junta de Castilla y León in the creation of essential documents such as the White Book of Crafts in Castilla y León, which resulted in the first decree regulating it in 1987. It is a relationship that has continued throughout this time and has been highlighted by FOACAL's collaboration and contribution to the latest revision of the regulatory decree that was approved in 2021.
In its 37 years of existence, the Federation, in collaboration with the Junta de Castilla y León and the rest of the provincial and local administrations of the Community, has promoted, through numerous activities and diverse actions, the regulation of the business carried out by artisans, as well as the modernisation of workshops for their integration into a modern and globalised market, helping to create a stable professional network, generating employment, which allows the professional insertion of many young graduates in artistic trades.
The Regional Crafts Centre of Castilla y León - CEARCAL, in its 21 years of existence, has become a national reference institution for the initiation and continuous training in the sphere of artistic and traditional crafts. CEARCAL organises permanent courses in more than 20 crafts, attended by more than 530 trainees per year, offering high quality training certified by ISO 9001 in the provision of training in artistic and traditional crafts. In addition to this stable programme, it offers monographic courses, seminars, meetings and conferences, through which thousands of people have taken part in its training and information activities during its two decades of existence.
Today, CEARCAL is a key driver of technological innovation for the use of new materials and digital tools in crafts, both in the marketing and design and production phases, and is a fundamental tool to facilitate the transition of the craft sector to the digital age.
FOACAL currently offers non-formal training courses in the following crafts: wood carving, carpentry, upholstery, furniture, jewellery and metal restoration, pewter making, stone carving, ceramic techniques, potter's wheel, hot and cold glass working, antique photography, paper engraving, leatherwork, bookbinding, professional drawing, painting techniques and textile making.
FOACAL Federación de Organizaciones Artesanas de Castilla y León / CEARCAL
Address: C/ Valle de Aran, 7. 47010 Valladolid - SPAIN
https://www.artesaniacastillayleon.es
