Avocado harvest is back on track thanks to rain in Spain

The avocado harvest in Spain has bounced back thanks to the heavy rains of spring and autumn 2024 and the rainy start to 2025. It had been hit hard by one of the most extreme droughts that the country has experienced in recent decades which hit the main production areas of the Axarquía in Malaga province and Granada province's Costa Tropical. These two areas produce 75 per cent of all the avocados that are exported, along with southern Portugal.

The balance of the 2024/25 season, which was already anticipated to be better than those of recent years at the beginning of 2025, has fulfilled the expectations announced by the Spanish tropical fruit association (AET), which estimated the increase in production at the end of a season that concluded a fortnight ago at more than 20 per cent compared to the previous season.

More than 75,000 tonnes of avocados were harvested, a figure that is largely thanks to the amount of rain that the farms in eastern Andalucía received in winter and spring. This is evidenced by the state of the La Viñuela reservoir in the Axarquía, which has become one of the main 'observatories' of the climatic situation in this part of the region and which has managed, for the first time in years, to exceed 50 per cent capacity. The percentage is very significant, as it means that farmers will start to receive resources from the Axarquía dam for the first time in three years.

In the same vein, the Spanish association of tropical fruits (AET), which brings together more than 500 growers, through its president Álvaro Palacios, has highlighted "the good results" of the harvest in the new production areas of western Andalucía". These are the provinces of Huelva and, above all, Cadiz where, "as was foreseeable and given the good weather conditions during this period, better if possible than in eastern Andalucía, there has also been an improvement in the crop forecasts, partly also because the cultivation areas dedicated to avocado continue to expand and these new areas are added to the contributions from regions such as Valencia, with a good balance for the year"; and the Canary Islands, territories with representation in the Spanish Tropical Association.

For Palacios, one of the most positive aspects of the end of the season, beyond the harvest figures, "is that we have once again seen the water in the fields and its effects on the behaviour of the crops, which shows that this is a vital resource, not only for agriculture, but also for the economy of the region and of these areas". The need for water infrastructures "which have been promised for many years and which are necessary so that both Malaga and the neighbouring Costa Tropical of Granada can continue to prosper as suppliers of tropical fruit to Europe" was once again highlighted.

"We cannot let this opportunity pass us by, because the European markets are demanding quality fruit from us and the projection of avocado consumption continues to grow. It is a great opportunity and what we cannot do is to stagnate and go backwards, with the consequent ruin for thousands of families, due to the lack of infrastructures. We have a first class productive fabric and we have been pioneers in production and marketing. We have to make the most of this advantage, but we need the support of the administrations through the implementation of hydraulic works such as the desalination plant , the connection of accounts and the measures we have already demanded", said Palacios in a statement.

In line with the main international consumption observatories, which point to a sustained growth in the demand for avocados, Palacios has once again insisted at the end of the season on the idea of having an organisation that brings together the interests of the whole value chain, from production, to distribution and marketing, "so that we can go to the administrations with a single voice and strongly defend the interests of the tropical sector; as well as promoting awareness of our product, its goodness and its quality above the fruit that arrives from other destinations. Supporting Spanish produce means supporting quality at source; for the thousands of families who give their all to bring a fruit of the highest value to the national and European market, which also complies with very strict regulations imposed by the European Union".