Benarrabá

Abdelselam Arrabat was part of the guild of dyers of the Banuh Tribe of Rabbah. They said he was an alchemist and his complicated formulas gave a special color to tissues that were tailored on the banks of the Genal Valley using stones, plants, animals and insects of the mountain. One day, he created a bright crimson color like blood called qarmazi and his secret formula remained until his death. When he died, one of his sons revealed the secret: His father had taken a cochineal color called Qarmaz and sucked the blood from insects and some animals. This color was used for blood stained dresses, the costumes and the clothes of the inhabitants of the area.