“To sew the pieces that make up footwear together”—that’s the definition of “aparar” according to the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE). However, for the women of Elche who have worked in the footwear industry, that word carries much more meaning. Within Elche, there’s a hidden industry. Any day of the week, the sound of sewing machines drifts through the half-closed blinds. Thousands of women, working from their homes or in small workshops, keep this industry alive. They are shoe stitchers, women who need no introduction to any resident of Elche, but whom the underground economy has forced into invisibility.

The salary of a shoe stitcher is low, yet the price a woman pays for working in footwear is high. They suffer from recurring health problems such as bone and joint pain, depression, and anxiety. But if there’s one well-known illness among shoe stitchers, it’s toxic polyneuropathy, or “shoe paralysis,” caused by the unsafe use of adhesives.

With the relocation of many companies, production shifted to areas of Asia. Work volume declined while job insecurity continued to rise. But the sewing industry weathered the storm and survived against all odds. Wage cuts due to the economic crisis have once again made small workshops profitable for many companies. In turn, the lack of opportunities has made sewing a viable option for many women once more.