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Agriculture experts expect a good season for almonds - one of the most important traditional nuts in Spain - across the country, after the crops experienced two consecutive poor harvests. This is great news for farmers and the Spanish market as a whole, given that one in every four almonds marketed in EU countries has been harvested in Spain.
Spain is also the world's second largest producer of almonds. In fact, despite the boom in pistachios and other nuts, almonds still account for 85% of the total area of nuts grown in the country.
Demand for almonds has not waned in the domestic market either. According to the latest Almendrave data, Spaniards consumed 32.6% more almonds in 2023 than in 2022, rising demand from 11.1 million kilos to 14.7 million.
However, not everything that can be found on the shelves of national supermarkets has necessarily been harvested in Spain. It is becoming increasingly common to find imported almonds. Fortunately, since 1 January this year, it has been compulsory to indicate the country of origin on the labelling, which offers a unique opportunity to differentiate national production from that of other countries.
Now that almond trees have shown their colourful blossom, many farmers are hopeful that the forecasts, which indicate a significant increase compared to previous years, will be fulfilled.
According to data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture (MAPA), production will reach a total of 373,558 tonnes in the 2024/2025 season, which represents a clear recovery compared to the previous season, when frosts and droughts slowed production. This year will also see an increase of 9.1% above the average compared to the last five seasons (2019-2023).
However, it has to be taken into account that the harvest will be very different depending on the region of the country. While in regions such as Aragon and Castilla-La Mancha production is expected to be 38% and 49% above the average of the last five seasons, respectively, in other regions, such as Valencia and Murcia, there are decreases of more than 35%.
The almond tree leads by far in terms of portions of the area cultivated with nuts throughout Spain, with many striking figures that demonstrate its vitality.
Of the total area under organic cultivation, which accounts for one third of the total planted area, 82% belongs to almond trees and 12.3% to pistachio trees.
In addition, organic and rain-fed almond trees account for 33% of the registered crop and 31% of irrigated almond trees.
Organic cultivation has a very significant production potential, because 22% of the planted area has not yet reached full production (21% in the case of organic dry farming and 30.5% in the case of irrigated farming). It is no coincidence that there are important projects focusing on this type of production in order to meet the growing demand for organic nuts and dried fruit.
In Andalucía, where new almond trees continue to be planted, agricultural organisations such as Asaja have called for an in-depth restructuring and reconversion plan for the crop, especially where plantations are older.
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