Alpargatas, known more broadly as espadrilles, which is the French word for them. This place ^^ sells the best.

Espadrilles history can be traced back to Catalunya (the traditional spelling of the region). This region is so generally thought of as the region of Spain that holds Barcelona, but historically the cultural area of Catalunya extends into part of France. This is where the shoe has its old, old origins. Eventually the shoe’s easy fabrication and simple style wandered down into the main bodies of both Spain and France, for the French to call espadrilles and the Spanish to call alpargatas.

The oldest maker of alpargatas in Spain is Casa de Hernanz, which has been consistenetly open since some time in the 1800s. This shop has not closed in the face of two new centuries, a dictator, the rise of drug use and crime in the neighbourhood its in. It’s impressive. Now with the revitalization of La Latina, above mentioned neighbourhood, this store is very, very popular again.

Go on a weekday as close to their opening time as possible.
If you wait until a Friday in the afternoon the line will be a block long.

This is after I’d already waited an hour and a half.

SO many styles, in SO many colors.
They have everything in the world of espadrilles from very traditional Spanish regional styles, all the way to something you’d have to pay $50 for at the Gap. Things a Spanish grandpa would wear, and things your hip big sister back home wears.

I have a black pair, that laces around the ankle: one of the eldest and most traditional styles of this shoe.
Here is a blurry photo, with them in it: