Toledo’s last swordmakers refuse to give up on their ancient craft

Famed since Roman times, the Spanish city's artisans are all but extinct. But a reprieve is at hand from the TV and film industry

Its sturdy presence has threaded through more than 2,000 years of history, fuelled by fans that were said to have ranged from the Carthaginian general Hannibal to Roman legions.

These days, however, the longstanding tradition of swordmaking in the Spanish city of Toledo has dwindled to just two artisan swordmakers - the last living link to a tradition that stretches back millennia.