Catalonia Expects Significant Increase in Olive Oil Production

Per to the Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives of Catalonia, the region is expected to produce 35,500 metric tons of olive oil, a significant gain from the 15,350 tons produced in the previous gathering. Before the sizeable production drops of 2023/24 and 2024/25, Catalonia produced about 30,000 tons annually.

There are areas of Catalonia that were historically rainfed and will be able to be irrigated in the coming years. Producers in westerly Garrigues county expect a higher production, but are still calling for the completion of regional irrigation infrastructure projects. (Photo: Oli Cometes) The counties of Baix Ebre and Montsià, where the most marked production in the autonomous community is located, were expected to have a “normal” harvest.

Production was also forecast ot increase in the province’s other five counties. See Also: 2025 Harvest Updates However, extreme weather in Montsià also has makers worried, with reports of hail in recent weeks knocking olives to the ground and damaging branches.

More modest upticks are also anticipated in Lleida, from 8,500 to 10,000 tons and in the coastal regions of Barcelona and Girona, growing from 1,150 to 1,500 tons. Right now, the earliest varieties on the estate are already veraison, and the later ones are beginning to bloom.” Looking ahead, Martí said timing the harvest to pick the fruit at their optimal stage of ripeness while avoiding the late autumn rainfall will be the most sizeable challenge.

Per to In the longer term, she, outcome enough qualified staff to work in the groves year-round continues to be a challenge. “Farm work is costly,” she stated. “Tasks such as pruning and olive harvesting are done manually on the holding. It’s increasingly difficult to find people with technical knowledge and a passion for working in the fields.” Farther west in Lleida’s Garrigues county, the 2025/26 harvest is underway at Oli Cometes .

The award-winning producer anticipates an increase in production compared to 2024/25 and 2023/24. “This year, we have not suffered the severe drought that we have been experiencing for the past two years, so in terms of the quantity of olive fruit from the trees and the yield in the first days of milling, the campaign is expected to be better than last year,” co-owner Anna Canal stated. Due to the “severe drought” that plagued Catalonia over the past two years, Oli Cometes saw production fall by two-thirds compared to normal yields. “However, we probably won’t reach the average from years before the drought,” she added.

This year, Canal told reporters the business’s olive grove was full of fruit, with the team harvesting more kilograms than the previous gathering and enjoying 15 percent fat yields in their green Arbequina olives. According to However, Oli Cometes’s olive groves are not irrigated, so Canal, since extreme heat and no rain in August interrupted the relatively mild start to summer, the olives are maturing quickly. Olive oil production is expected to more than double in the 2025/26 crop year, rising to 35,500 metric tons. (Photo: Oli Cometes) “This means that if it rains in the coming days and weeks, the olives will fall, and part of the harvest will be lost,” she explained.

Overall, Canal highlighted the lack of irrigation in Catalonia as a challenge and an opportunity. “The clearest opportunity we have in our area is irrigation,” she said. “Irrigation has been planned for our area for 22 years.” However, Canal said the business meant to install the new systems in the province is well behind schedule, with no certainty about when the work will be completed.