The olive groves of Almeria are facing a dire future

The olive groves of Almeria, once thriving, are now dying under a relentless drought.

These century-old trees now stand lifeless, their roots unable to find water in cracked, barren soil.

The drought has turned several hundred hectares of traditionally olive-growing lands into desolate landscapes, where once there was promise and productivity.

According to Jaime Martinez, an agricultural engineer at the CSIC Experimental Station for Arid Zones in Almeria, planting densities have increased tenfold, putting further strain on already scarce water resources, and these unsustainable practices of recent years continue to exacerbate the crisis.

According to Martinez, this has created the “perfect cocktail” for agricultural collapse.

Almeria has about 12,000 hectares of olive trees, producing around 13,000 tons of oil annually, though it exports only 0.4% of the regional total.

Despite this, it has seen a 403% increase in international market growth, valued at 8.4 million euros.

These contrasting figures demand better sustainable practices to prevent further desertification in the province of Almeria.

“Desertification is a future challenge that we have to solve, it is not merely a conservationist thing,” states Jaime Martinez.

Martinez warns that, like Iran’s pistachio crisis, overexploitation of aquifers will erode productive resources; without a shift towards sustainable practices, Almeria’s agricultural future is at serious risk.

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