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MADRID, SPAIN (RECENT, OCT. 2022) - In the 21st century in the Spanish capital, a team of around 15 people are working to protect the traditional knotting techniques of Hispanic-Muslim culture and produce hand-made rugs at the royal tapestry factory. The knotting techniques of the weavers at the "Real Fábrica de Tapices" (The Royal Tapestry Factory) in Madrid date back to Andalusian Islamic era, which left great marks on the region over nearly eight centuries. Known as the Spanish knots today, the traditional technique was preserved by many Muslim families living on the Iberian Peninsula. "If these artisan trades are not protected in some way, in the end they will end up being lost just like many artisan trades that have disappeared. When we protect the Spanish knot, we're perpetuating this textile and promoting that other people learn about the Spanish knot," said Jose Ignacio García, one of the weavers at the factory. The director of the factory, Alejandro Klecker, told about the production and restoration processes of historic textiles. "To be honest, the ones who recovered the Spanish knots were two or three industries during the 20th Century, with little success because there is not a great demand for this type of rugs and because for the average Spanish user it is an expensive rug," he told. In the earlier centuries, in the 15th and 16th in particular, Klecker said, Spanish weaving factories used Turkish knotting techniques. "In the Turkish knot we can make curves and in the Spanish knot we can't. The Turkish knot takes a week to do and is a little cheaper," he told, adding that "for every 30 Turkish knot rugs we make one Spanish knot, approximately." The director also said "everyone immediately recognizes the Turkish knot because it decorates all the royal palaces in Spain: the Congress, the Senate, the Bank of Spain." (Footage by AA/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)