Founded by Sebastian Blanco in 1954, Magnanni started making shoes at a five-employee factory in the small town of Almansa in the La Mancha region of Spain. As a side note, the region of La Mancha was made famous by the Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha —or just Don Quixote—, the main character in the Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes that is today one of the greatest masterpieces of world literature. Published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, Don Quixote is the most influential work of literature from the Spanish Golden Age and the entire Spanish literary canon.