Ximo López pointed out that “together with my great friend José Carrión, we have made many of the models that are now on display at the Port Authority of Valencia”.
Aurelio Martínez presented the ‘Mestre d’Aixà’ with a personalised ‘socarrat’ in recognition of his activity and contribution to Valencian maritime heritage.
The Port Authority of Valencia (PAV) has recognised the work of Joaquín López Martínez, one of the last ‘Mestres d’Aixà’ or Valencian shipwrights, a craft of artisanal wooden boat building. Ximo López, together with José Carrión López, have made numerous models of boats that can be seen in the Valenciaport facilities. The president of the PAV, Aurelio Martínez, presented the ‘Mestre d’Aixà’ with a personalised socarrat “in recognition of his activity and contribution to Valencian maritime heritage”.
Ximo López expressed his gratitude for this recognition and explained that “I have been linked to the maritime world since I was a child. My father worked as a caulker and he was the one who passed on to me the love for this trade. I started working in shipbuilding on the beach, to later continue in the Unión Naval de Levante as a shipwright”.
“It has always been clear to me – he acknowledged – that this knowledge should reach more people. That is why I began to teach shipwrighting at the School of Arts and Crafts. During these years as a teacher, I met great students and colleagues, among whom I would like to highlight my great friend José Carrión, with whom I have made many of the models that are now on display at the PAV. Thanks to the Port Authority, our ships are safeguarded in their facilities”.
Ximo López also revealed that “after the suppression of the official courses, I found myself in the situation where I wanted to continue building models, but I had neither where nor how. Thanks to the port authorities who valued our work, they gave us a place where we could continue to create. Part of the thanks for this recognition goes to those people who saw a legacy that must not disappear”.
The PAV has held two exhibitions where the models made by the masters Ximo López and José Carrión over the course of a lifetime have been shown. The last one was held in 2018 under the name of ‘Plànols, Maquetes i Mestres d’Aixà al Port de València’ where 15 models of the masters of naval modelling could be seen. These models show the rigour in the execution, based on historical research and the deep knowledge of an ancient trade, passed down from father to son and that gave rise to construction methods, tools and vocabulary that are part of the extensive Valencian maritime heritage. This craft involved the knowledge of disciplines such as the creation of the scale model, the design of plans, the selection of wood, the creation of the appropriate tools and machines for each phase of the work, the construction of the structure, caulking and the finishing of the ship.
Ximo López’s creations include the Llaüt ‘Manuela Torres’, the typical Mediterranean coasting boat; the brigantine-schooner ‘Escolástica Vicente Guillem’; the jabeque, a typically Mediterranean vessel; the velatxer ‘Vicente Mensua’; the Falutx ‘María Martín’; the barca de bou ‘La Bona Guia’, a typically Valencian vessel; the schooner ‘Pepe Huertas’; the reproduction of the Coca Votiva de Mataró; ‘La Gallega’, the original name of the Santa María that took Christopher Columbus to the New World; the caravels ‘Santa María’, ‘Niña’ and ‘La Pinta’; the caero ‘Concha López’, a typical boat of the coast of Alicante; the ‘Concha López’, a typical boat of the Alicante coast.