09 Jun A Ray of Sunshine in the Land of Saudade – How Maribel Keeps an old Craft Alive
The Minho, the green, rugged north of Portugal, holds a special place in my heart. Not only because I studied there years ago. I still have friends there today, even a Spanish family, and I come back at least every year to this region on the border with Galicia. Braga, Guimarães, Valença, Caminha: these are the small towns I keep returning to.
Minho is the name of the river, but also of the landscape. There are small villages with the typical grey granite houses, the Casas Minhotas, winding lanes and tascas where the prato do dia lands on the table. And over everything: saudade. The Portuguese word that has no real translation. Something like melancholy — the pride, the grief, the longing of an old seafaring nation.
And everywhere you look: azulejos. The traditional, hand-painted ceramic tiles that adorn walls, facades and stairwells. One of Portugal’s most iconic symbols. And since tourism bounced back after Covid, probably the country’s most popular souvenir.
“At the same time,” Maribel tells me in the small town of Caminha, “more and more workshops are disappearing and more and more of the people who make them.”
Around her, the craftspeople were getting older, the shops on Caminha’s main street were closing, young people were heading to the cities. A local shopkeeper adds that since Covid, tourism to nearby Porto has picked up again. There are plenty of tourist souvenirs out there — cheaply produced mass goods from abroad. Nobody counts exactly how many workshops have closed. But walk through the town and talk to people, and you’ll hear about it.
Cuban spirits in the rugged north of Portugal
When Maribel came to Portugal from Cuba, she decided to make this craft her own. Today, some years later, she runs her small studio in Caminha, taking commissions from customers around the world and has long since become something of a local icon. Someone who keeps an old tradition alive.
She beams as she shows me her shop and her little studio. She is a ray of sunshine — in one of Europe’s rainiest regions, in the land of saudade and fado music.
For SoRarePieces, Maribel designed two collections. Clear, graphic motifs in classic cobalt blue on white, hand-painted, brushstroke by brushstroke. As a gift: because there is no second one that looks exactly like this.
Explore the collection
For those who want wo go deeper
→ Patterns of Portugal — if one book captures the visual soul of Portugal, it’s this one. Colours, tiles, architecture, and a journey through a country that wears its history on its walls.
→ Lonely Planet Portugal — from Lisbon’s tiled facades to the wild north where Maribel paints. The guide for those who want to go beyond the obvious.
→ Azulejos de Portugal – The Colouring Book — over 80 azulejo-inspired designs to colour in. A calm, creative way to carry a little Portugal home with you. *
*This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, we may earn a small commission — at no extra cost to you. We only recommend things we genuinely find worth exploring.
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