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<\/p>\nMADRID (AP) \u2014 In crowded subway cars and sun-drenched plazas, an old-fashioned accessory in Spain has been everywhere thanks to the blistering summer heat.<\/p>\n
Small enough to fit into a purse, the traditional Spanish folding hand fan, or abanico, snaps open into a semicircle. With little more than a flick of the wrist, it creates a surprisingly strong breeze.<\/p>\n
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Mass-produced fans featuring tourist images of Seville are displayed in a shop window in Seville, Spain, on Aug. 25, 2026. (AP Photo\/Laura Leon)<\/p>\n
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Carmen Torres, a professional flamenco dancer, rehearses a guajira, a flamenco style that traditionally incorporates the use of a fan, in Seville, Spain, on Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo\/Laura Leon)<\/p>\n
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Fans are displayed at Casa Diego, a fan shop in Madrid, Spain, on Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo\/Manu Fernandez)<\/p>\n
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A street vendor sells fans near the Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain, on Aug. 20, 2026. (AP Photo\/Manu Fernandez)<\/p>\n
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A woman uses a fan to cool herself on the subway in Madrid, Spain, on Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo\/Manu Fernandez)<\/p>\n
As successive heat waves in Western Europe pushed temperatures this summer to punishing levels, the accessory has become an essential, embraced by the young and old from Spain and elsewhere. Women \u2014 and a growing number of men \u2014 unfurl them on public transport, at concerts and at music festivals. In July, rainbow-colored abanicos were everywhere during Madrid\u2019s raucous Pride celebrations.<\/p>\n
On a recent August day, 20-year-old Ana Feliu blocked the sun with a paper abanico she was gifted during a Valencian festival. She carries it everywhere in the summer, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis one is my favorite, but I have many,\u201d she told The Associated Press near Madrid\u2019s Puerta del Sol square. Temperatures in the Spanish capital are forecast to climb to 39 degrees Celsius (102 Fahrenheit) on Thursday and Friday.<\/p>\n
Also fanning himself was David Gonz\u00e1lez, whose abanico featured pinks, purples and reds.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first, I felt a little self-conscious, because it\u2019s something that\u2019s mainly associated with women, but I have to admit it serves a purpose \u2014 and it brightens my day,\u201d said Gonz\u00e1lez, 53.<\/p>\n
Historians believe the folding fan reached Europe through Portuguese maritime trade with Asia in the 15th and 16th centuries.<\/p>\n
As early as the mid-17th century, the Spanish painter Diego Vel\u00e1zquez made his enigmatic “The Lady with a Fan,” in which a woman, possibly French, poses with what appears to be a delicate wooden abanico.<\/p>\n
As they grew fashionable in European courts, Spain developed a taste and industry of its own. Madrid became an important center of production, and by the 18th century, Valencia had emerged as the Spanish fan-making capital.<\/p>\n
So embedded was the abanico in Spanish aristocratic society by the 1800s that women used them to discreetly express flirtation, interest or disapproval through what was called \u201cthe language of the fan.\u201d<\/p>\n
From Spain, the hand fan traveled to Latin America. In the 19th century, flamenco dancers began using the abanico as an expressive prop, as Cuban song and dance styles such as the guajira influenced the dance form. Over time, the fan\u2019s association with flamenco helped turn it into a quintessential Spanish symbol.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fan is a perfect element because, on the one hand, it evokes the heat and humidity of Cuba \u2014 that heavy, oppressive feeling,\u201d said Carmen Torres, a 44-year-old flamenco dancer in southern Spain. \u201cAnd at the same time, it gives us a way to bring out the seductive, coquettish quality.\u201d<\/p>\n
For more than a century and a half, Javier Llerandi\u2019s family has sold abanicos out of Casa de Diego, a wood-paneled shop in Madrid.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe live from the heat,\u201d Llerandi told the AP.<\/p>\n
The fans at Casa de Diego are made in Spain and range from simple two-tone wooden ones to elaborate, hand-painted items crafted from mother-of-pearl with intricate floral patterns. They start around 30 euros ($35), while others cost 200 to 500 euros (up to $580) and some high-end pieces reach 6,000 euros (nearly $7,000). Prices vary based on the materials used and, even more so, the workmanship involved, he said.<\/p>\n
As Madrid has grown into a tourist hotspot, foreign visitors are also snatching up his fans, which Llerandi notes are more reliable than their portable, electric counterparts.<\/p>\n
\u201cBattery-run items eventually run out of power, and always at the worst possible moment,\u201d Llerandi said, adding with a smile: \u201cWithout a doubt, heat waves are good for this business.\u201d<\/p>\n
And for the less discerning customer, plastic fans with printed designs are sold for a few euros at souvenir kiosks, including one a couple hundred meters from Llerandi’s store. There, too, a salesperson reported strong sales this summer.<\/p>\n
Outside a towering bullfighting ring in Madrid, Juani Duran sells wooden hand fans with traditional floral designs for five euros apiece at a stall. Bullfights take place in open-air stadiums, and spectators traditionally dress up to attend them, making the elegant fans a fitting accessory.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll usually find a hand fan in any woman\u2019s pocket \u2014 and in some men\u2019s, too,\u201d Duran said before a late-August bullfight.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey’re not the best quality,\u201d she said, pointing at her stock, “but they’ll get you through the summer.”<\/p>\n
AP photographer Laura Le\u00f3n contributed from Seville, Spain.<\/p>\n
Mass-produced fans featuring tourist images of Seville are displayed in a shop window in Seville, Spain, on Aug. 25, 2026. (AP Photo\/Laura Leon)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Carmen Torres, a professional flamenco dancer, rehearses a guajira, a flamenco style that traditionally incorporates the use of a fan, in Seville, Spain, on Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo\/Laura Leon)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Fans are displayed at Casa Diego, a fan shop in Madrid, Spain, on Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo\/Manu Fernandez)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n A street vendor sells fans near the Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain, on Aug. 20, 2026. (AP Photo\/Manu Fernandez)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n
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