Portugese and Spanish shoes

Where are you located? I know that Sky Valet in DC handles Carmina: www.skyvalet1.com.

I have several pairs of Lotusse shoes and they are desent quality. I think they are made in Majorca. They don't have a website but you can fint their adress at http://directorios.netfirms.com/eng/calzado/ along with other shoe manufacturers in Spain.

I have had some nice Yanko shoes but I was very displeased with my last ones. Thick, uncomfortable leather making strange wrinkles after some use. It may not be representative of their general quality, though.
I recently bought a pair of Carmina ankle boots and I am very pleased with them. I will definitely buy Carmina again. One thing I like about their shop in Madrid is that they have shoes in a wide variety of different brown tones -including burgundy and "almost yellow"- and that I feel that the salespeople have given me "sincere advice", instead of just trying to talk me into buying something. That is something I really appreciate, and one more reason for going back there.
The carmina website:
www.carminashoemaker.com

Lottusse does have a website, you just have to spell it right:
http://www.lottusse.com/?idioma=esp

I second the high opinion of Carmina. I´m very happy with the pair of boots I bought at their Madrid shop (the one on Claudio Coello). Their customer service was first rate, though I´m not sure if they would have understood me if I weren´t fluent in spanish.

Lottusse aren't bad at all - i think the quality's roughly comparable to Allen-Edmonds.

Triple post

Triple post, - sorry, can't understand how that happened.

There are two other makers from Mallorca that might be worth mentioning: Yanko and Barrats 1890. Last time I saw them both brands featured some, how shall I put it, rather sturdy looking shoes. Not my cup of tea, really. Quality was okay, although not on par with Albaladejo. Judging from their website, Barrats is making an effort to appear a bit more contemporary than they used to. On the other hand, quality might have suffered. Rubber soles on whole cuts seem off to me.
In Portugal there´s Mack James. They have a website that hasn´t changed a lot, if at all, over the course of three years, so I wonder if this maker is still around. The double monks on display are nice, though.

I highly recommend Carmina Shoemaker. They run a shop in Barcelona, Rambla de Catalunya under the name of Albaladejo. Their shoes, of which I own three or four pair, still have after five years of wearing them a very tight fit when you put them on. After a couple of minutes they fit smoothly like gloves.
I hope this helps you to decide
Mogoamagagogo

Nowadays, many shoes for designer labels are being made in Portugal. I am not impressed by them, as they tend to use cheaper leathers and the construction leaves much to be desired.

As for Spanish shoes, I have had Lottusse and can say that there are several lines, the highest being 1877 Selection, followed by 1877, followed by Collection. The "Selection" features welted shoes, and is their most expensive. The leathers are decent, many are pebble-grained (not considered a negative in the Spanish opinion) and soft/supple. The construction uses a proprietary welting which is based on the Goodyear method, and some of them have crepe rubber soles. While many "purists" are put off by this, you must realize that in Spain, it is normal for an average person, even a businessman, to walk several miles a day. Even going to lunch could entail a 1-hr round trip walk. As such, rubber soles tend to hold up better on dirty and bustling streets, as well as providing security in the rain from slick conditions (unlike other countries, especially the USA, it is not an option to use your car for a dozen efficient trips each day). I find their shoes to be the most comfortable welted shoes for walking that I own (so far!) and one good option for the rainy winters of Northern Spain (where you can forget about leather soles...). Their designs are a mix of classic and contemporary, avant-garde styling.

That being said, the 1877 line is decent, and might be unlined, depending on the style, but should have good leather. Usually these are Blake-stitched. I would not bother with the Collection unless there is a design you are crazy about, though I am sure they are at least decent shoes. I have seen some ok ones, but some have weird foam soles.

The Selection costs about 250 eur new, though you can get sales at the end of the season (July and again in January); I paid 154 eur for a pair recently at the Lottusse store over the phone.


As for other brands:

Carmina: they say it's the best, but I haven't experienced a pair, so can't comment. Their shop window on the Gran Vía in madrid is tantalizing, though. Saw some on sale at the end of summer for about 200 euros (a deal!).

Yanko: I've seen these and have been unimpressed. Their leathers seem too shiny and I suspect they've been corrected. Construction looks decent.

Barrats: this label seems to be rather poor in quality and cheaply made, but expensive, as if they are trying to appeal to the typical new-rich shopper who wants to own a label rather than a shoe.

George's: One of the nicer quality Spanish shoes. I think their leathers are very nice, and tend to be supple. They have many models with pebble grain. At this time, they retail at about 190 euros. They seem to be all Goodyear-welted. Very appealing to older, wealthy men.

John Spencer: once British, these are now made in Spain. I am not fond of their designs, and their leather, from the ones I've seen, though supposedly calf, seems very rigid. They appear rather clunky and stiff, and are Goodyear welted, costing about 140 eur at this time.

I like Loewe shoes, in my opinion they have the best quality in leather goods.

http://www.loewe.com/

I am from Spain, and the shoe industry is pretty significant in Mallorca (somebody already mentioned. that is where Carmina and Yankos come from, the owners are members of the same family), and in the south eastern coast.
They make shoes for many different international brands but they tend to lean on the fashion side. However there do make very high quality shoes that they sell to other countries and not in Spain (and this last part really drives me crazy)

I´ll third or forth the recommendation for Carmina. The quality is as good as my C&J handgrades, they hold up very well (I have an 8-yr. old pair that is immaculate), and the salespeople are knowledgeable. Their Claudio Coello street (Madrid) reps seem to get by in English, too. I´ve seen a fellow American converse with them (though I have no trouble with Spanish). Lottusse are a bit more forward-looking/contemporary, but IMO the quality isn´t in the same league while they are nearly in the same price range. However, I have a couple of Lottusse belts that are excellent (hint: better at their own stores than the boutiques wiithin the El Corte Ingles dept. stores in Spain).