Follow Spain Immigration to learn about life in Spain customs: Many have always thought that China was the great nation of fans, but in fact, Spain was once a kingdom of fans as well. Most Spanish fans are made of silk, predominantly black, with lace trim, and painted with figures, often bullfighters or ladies from Seville in the south. After living in Spain for a long time, one will discover that fans are for women only and are a female prerogative. If a man were to walk down the street holding a fan, he would certainly be ridiculed. This is mainly because in the 18th and 19th centuries, constrained by traditional religion, lovers found it difficult to express their affection in public social settings, so women used the "language of the fan" to convey various emotions. For example: a woman fanning herself slowly means "You are indifferent to me." But if she walks away holding an open folding fan, she is saying, "Please do not forget me." Placing an index finger on the fan ribs is a way to tell the other person, "We must talk." Fanning with the left hand means, "Do not flirt with me." If she enters a living room and closes her fan at the same time, it is a hint that "I am not going out today." However, if she walks toward the balcony while fanning, the message conveyed is: "I will be going out later." When a young woman opens her fan to cover the lower half of her face, it means she is asking, "Do you like me?" and so on. The language between fans became a unique landscape in Spain at that time, and later, during wartime, it was even used to convey military information.
By the 19th and early 20th centuries, fans were already quite common in Spain and had become an indispensable accessory for young ladies. They would skillfully and nimbly wave them to convey their feelings to their sweethearts. The unfolding and folding of the fan, and its movement left, right, up, and down, truly constituted a magical art of motion, transmitting a specific vocabulary—the tacit understanding between lovers.
Today, with the progress of technology, "conveying love through the language of the fan" and "courtship by guitar" have become history in Spain. The hot summer is now a season for vacations, air conditioning has long replaced paper fans, and free love and independent marriage have become the norm. The fan has now become a unique form of handicraft and a must-have gift for tourists.