Washing by hand by a stream

Post by Charlie and Wynette:

Laundry has historically been a big and hard job. Just about everywhere we have been in Spain we see these washing structures with washboards and running water from a nearby stream. We’ve probably seen hundreds over the years on various Camino walks. Probably dozens this trip.

Usually they are clearly community owned. The women would wash together. Of course, they worked best when beside a source of running water, i.e., a stream.

We don’t have a photo (we didn’t want to be intrusive) but a few days ago we passed a house and a woman was washing clothes in one of these next to her house. It was probably fed by a faucet. We were amazed. And, at the same house there was another woman sitting on a covered porch who appeared to be shelling peas. They never looked up from what they were doing as we passed by.

Now, we’re sure most homes in Spain have a washing machine (a very nice front-loader). And there are lots of laundries in most towns. Some self-serve, some which run as an inexpensive laundry service. We think it’s rare for people to have a clothes dryer because of the high cost of energy here. We’ve stayed in a few apartments in Spain and they always have a nice washing machine but not a dryer. But there’s always a way to hang up the laundry.