Public Laundry Urracal

The public laundry located at the entrance of the town of C / Pilar, the main artery of the municipality, is part of the hydraulic infrastructure to use the water flow from the upper rafts (Fuente Nueva) to the Pals, water that goes directly to irrigate the huerta urraqueña.

It was created in 1947, before the construction of the drinking water and sanitation network. The women used the laundry to soap and rinse clothes, today it is still used but much less than before. In addition, until a few years ago, the laundry had other uses such as, for example, in the time of slaughter, for the washing of pieces, utensils, sacks or rags of the slaughter.

The clothes were rubbed on the stone and soaps were used that, being made with natural products (oil and soda) by the same washerwomen, the water that was used to wash was not contaminated and could be reused to water. Once the laundry was finished, the women transported the clothes to their homes using cubes to hang them and let the sun finish the job. Hard work, especially in winter when wet hands and cold freeze women’s hands. This hydraulic group that provided important services to the municipality for many years is a place of great ethnological interest. It transports you to another time, a socializing space where the obligatory appointment propitiated the chat and the exchange of impressions on the latest news.