Agriculture

1.595-kilo mango from Benamargosa is crowned the Axarquía's ‘King of Mangoes’

Francisco won the competition with an Osteen variety weighing 1,595 grams; José Luis Quero came second with 1,587 and Carmen Fernández came third with 1,460 grams in the annual competition in Triana in Malaga province

A photograph of the three Osteen mango trees that have won the Triana Corazón de la Axarquía competition. (SUR)

07/10/2026 Actualizado a las 06:45h.

The title for the biggest mango in the quirky competition which started in 2025 in the village of Triana (Vélez-Málaga) in Malaga province’s ... Axarquía area has been won this year by Francisco, from Benamargosa. His Osteen variety mango, which came in at just under 1.6 kilos has been declared this year's winner, according to an announcement on the Facebook page ‘Triana Corazón de la Axarquía’, the organiser of the initiative.

The winner was decided by a margin of just eight grams: José Luis Quero, from Triana, came second with a mango weighing 1,587 grams and third place went to Carmen Fernández, originally from Benamocarra and now living in Triana, whose 1,460-gram mango had led the competition for much of September.

The organisers had initially planned to award a single prize, but the level of participation over the last few weeks has led them to change their approach. “Given the high level of participation and to recognise the efforts of our entrants”, the organisers have finally decided to award prizes to the three heaviest mangoes.

Francisco won with a weight of 1,595 grams, eight more than José Luis Quero; Carmen Fernández completed the podium with a mango weighing 1,460 grams

Francisco will receive a hamper with a selection of products from the Axarquía and a ticket for the Christmas Lottery. José Luis Quero and Carmen Fernández will each receive a hamper containing products from the area and from the ‘Sabor a Málaga’ promotional food brand. The competition remained open until 30 September and stipulated that the specimens had to be of the Osteen variety.

The ‘Triana Corazón de la Axarquía’ organisers maintain that the aim of the competition goes beyond simply finding fruit of exceptional size and is intended to ‘showcase’ agricultural work, the farming communities and one of the Axarquía's most valuable crops.

The competition started in the wake of the photographs of giant mangoes that circulate on the Axarquía’s social media every season. In 2025, even bigger mangoes were recorded: Carlos Martín from Frigiliana entered an Osteen weighing 2,253 grams, while a farmer from Triana managed to harvest a Keitt variety mango weighing 2,823.5 grams. This latter variety, however, is not eligible for the current competition.

The competition was launched on social media to promote Osteen and coincides with a campaign for 40,000 tonnes of mangoes expected in Malaga province

The competition also coincides with the middle weeks of the season. The Andalusian regional government estimates this year’s mango harvest in Malaga province at around 40,000 tonnes, valued at around 60 million euros for growers. This forecast represents a decline of approximately 30 per cent compared with the exceptional 2025 season, although the province still has more than 4,500 hectares dedicated to this crop and accounts for around 90 per cent of the total area under mango cultivation in Andalucía.

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