Recardera, oficio de mujer [Recardera, women’s job]

Abstract

   Recardera is the term used in Navarre and some neighbouring provinces to refer to women engaged in the retail trade of food products (mainly fruit, vegetables, eggs and chestnuts), as well as in carrying out orders and errands in rural areas commissioned by their neighbours. After a brief introduction on the presence of women in the labour field, this article analyses different aspects related to this peculiar trade, such as the origin of the word and its geographical and temporal extension; the regulations established by the administration to regulate the activity; the common characteristics of these workers and the influence that this occupation had on life in Pamplona in the past.