The Integrated Vocational Training Centre for Stonemasonry in Galicia combines tradition and new technologies to ensure the next generation of stonemasons, with career opportunities ranging from monument restoration to contemporary sculpture.
The stonemason’s craft is an inseparable part of both Galician history and landscape. As David Alvariño, director of the CIFP de Cantería de Galicia, points out, ‘granite, stonemasonry and Galicia share a common history’. From churches to manor houses, including stone crosses and walls, the traces of stonemasons are present in every little corner, however insignificant it may seem. He even says that many left their personal mark on the stones or hid ironic figures in the temples they built.
The Escola de Canteiros was founded on 15 January 1979 in the monastery of Poio with a clear objective: to preserve and pass on a noble and traditional craft. After passing through the Provincial Council of Pontevedra, in 2023 it became part of the Regional Government of Galicia, and a year later it officially became the Integrated Centre for Professional Training in Stonemasonry in Galicia, thus consolidating its role as a benchmark.
A unique training programme in Spain
The centre obviously teaches stonemasonry, but that is not all it has to offer. It offers courses in construction, civil engineering and building projects, but it stands out for a programme that is unique in Spain: a three-year intermediate course in natural stone with a high degree of specialisation in stonemasonry. This combines technical training with artistic design modules and provides a double qualification: technician in natural stone and technician in plastic arts and design in artistic stone reproductions.
The student profile is diverse. Young people, people undergoing retraining, and even foreigners who are attracted by a sector with high employability and competitive salaries. ‘My concern is that some students enter the market before finishing their studies,’ admits Alvariño, recalling that several recently joined the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona or the Hostal de los Reyes Católicos in Santiago.
Technology and tradition go hand in hand
Like many other trades, this craft has evolved, and today the wisdom of yesteryear coexists with the most advanced machinery. In Galicia, leading companies use numerically controlled machinery capable of cutting stone blocks with millimetre precision. However, the finishing touches are still done by hand by professionals. ‘The stonemasons do the finishing touches to achieve identical finishes in restorations or cathedral pieces,’ emphasises the director.
That is why the training combines learning traditional techniques – cutting, treating and working with stone – with skills in digital design and machining, ensuring that graduates are well-rounded and versatile professionals.
The passion that is transmitted
The centre, in Alvariño’s words, becomes a space where visitors end up ‘falling in love with the craft’. The projects carried out by the students are a good example of this: from an exact replica of a historic stone cross to a relief of Guernica carved in granite and marble. These works show that the art of stonework is not just a thing of the past.
The experience of a sculptor
No one knows this better than Fran Castro, a former student of the school and now a sculptor with his own workshop in Poio. ‘It was hard at first, and I even thought about giving up several times. But little by little, I got hooked and ended up finding it impossible to give up,’ he confesses. His time at the Escola lasted more than a decade, including training, scholarships and work, and was decisive in his professional life.
Castro has left his mark on monuments throughout Galicia: the Salmon in A Estrada, the Milkmaids of Mos and the Virgin of Carmen in Poio and Vilanova. He also worked in the United States, restoring the Capitol and Arlington Cemetery, where he received two awards for excellence in historical preservation, representing his homeland in the best possible way.
Sculpting the future in stone
Today, Fran combines public and private commissions with more personal projects, such as a sculpture of the Celtic goddess Dana symbolising hope through children. For him, the craft is not dying out, but still has a future. “As long as there are young people with enthusiasm and schools like the one in Poio, stonemasonry will live on. The key is to combine tradition and modernity: to take advantage of technology without losing the essence of manual work,” he says.
A legacy that lives on
Stonework, Fran recalls, plays an essential role in heritage conservation. ‘Without stonemasons, many buildings and monuments that form part of our history could not be restored or preserved,’ he says. He also emphasises that what he learned at school continues to accompany him every day: squaring, highlighting, chiselling, handling tools. These are the foundations that underpin any sculpture or restoration.
All in all, the CIFP de Cantería de Galicia looks to the future with optimism. Its managers are working to consolidate the trade and ensure a generational change that combines art, technique and passion. And testimonies such as Fran Castro’s confirm that, in Galicia, stone continues to have its own voice, one that is firm and, if everything continues as it is, lasting.