"La Manual Alpargatera is also the favourite espadrille shop of Àngeles Ortega, owner of Foodie Experience Barcelona, a local cooking school situated nearby. When teaching visitors about local culture, she regularly espouses the shoe’s virtues and sends curious clients to the shop. She appreciates the shoe for its simplicity, aesthetics and, particularly, its roots. 'I enjoy the poetry of an object that comes from such humble origins,' she explained, referring to the shoe’s beginnings as footwear for peasants. She admires them for being what she calls ‘survivors’—a shoe whose simplicity, function and form have helped it to both maintain its identity and to grow and evolve into something new."

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