TLALPUJAHUA, Mixico, (MILLAT+APP/AFP) – Sweat runs
down Adan Marin’s wrinkled face as he blows into a blob of molten glass, creating a perfect, delicate sphere within the blue and orange flames of his torch.
Marin is one of the godfathers of the glassblowing trade in the
Mexican village of Tlalpujahua, which makes tens of millions of ornaments each year to decorate Christmas trees in American and Canadian homes.
Even mid-winter, the sun shines strong in this village in the western
state of Michoacan. But it might as well be the North Poll.
Stores with names like “Santa’s Workshop” and “The Christmas House”
line the colonial village’s cobblestone streets. And Christmas lasts all year for its 28,000 residents.
For more than 50 years, Tlalpujahua has been known as the Christmas
ornament capital of Mexico, making blown-glass decorations that range from the traditional globes to sports team logos and Pokemon.
The booming cottage industry generated 1,000 jobs and $3.4 million in
income last year for the village, which sold some 20 million ornaments,
according to the local government.
This year, more than half a million tourists descended on the village
for its annual ornament fair. The government expects 2016 sales revenues to top $4.5 million.
But there are also fears it could be the last boom year.
US President-elect Donald Trump’s vows to build a wall on the Mexican
border and renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement are worrying
Tlalpujahua’s glassblowers.
Trump, who takes office on January 20, has pledged to slap customs
duty of up to 35 percent on goods from Mexico, a country that sends 80 percent of its exports to the US market.
“There’s a lot of concern,” said Rafael Berrios, the Tlalpujahua
government spokesman.
If Trump follows through, the effect will be devastating for local
artisans, he said.