{"id":10137,"date":"2021-07-15T09:35:14","date_gmt":"2021-07-15T07:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.treurer.com\/?p=10137"},"modified":"2022-06-12T18:27:47","modified_gmt":"2022-06-12T16:27:47","slug":"spanish-olive-oil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/treurer.com\/en\/spanish-olive-oil\/","title":{"rendered":"Where is Spanish olive oil produced?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Spain is the largest olive oil producer in the world. More specifically, olive cultivation in our country represents 30.2% of world production and 41% of the European Union production. Of the olive crop, approximately 92% is dedicated to oil extraction, while the remaining 8% is used for table olives.<\/p>

For this reason, there’s no doubt we have the best olive oil in the world, and that, more specifically extra virgin olive oil, had become a representative Spanish gastronomy ingredient. More so, extra virgin olive oil smell, flavour and texture make it an essential product to prepare breakfast to dinner recipes. But, how is extra virgin olive oil spread throughout Spain?<\/p>

Olive oil production in the different regions of Spain<\/h2>
  1. Who introduced olive oil in Spain?<\/li>
  2. Where is olive oil produced in Spain?<\/li>
  3. Which is the best Spanish olive oil?<\/li><\/ol>

    1. Who introduced olive oil in Spain?<\/h3>

    The wild olive was one of the first varieties appearing in the Mediterranean until reaching the current species that we know as Olea europaea. And although Spain is today one of the great worldwide olive oil producers, our country didn’t have this long-lived olive tree until the Phoenicians brought it around 1050 BC.<\/p>

    However, it was later the Romans who further expanded these olive tree seeds throughout the Iberian Peninsula, improving the production system of this fruit and making Hispania one of the main olive oil exporters in the Mediterranean.<\/p>

    Later, the Arabs introduced new olive varieties and brought with them new words that would derive from the Spanish terms we use today such as “aceituna<\/i>” and “aceite<\/i>“. In addition, they were the ones who, due to their religion, helped to substitute animal oil for olive oil in the diet, not to mention that this oil was used as medicine, cosmetics and even to illuminate homes.<\/p>

    \"Spain
    Spain is the largest olive oil producer in the world<\/figcaption><\/figure>

    2. Where is olive oil produced in Spain?<\/h3>

    Today Spain has 32 Protected Designations of Origin that guarantee that olive oil production is excellent. More specifically, the olive area in our country is more than 2,500,000 hectares, that Spanish olive production is represented in 13 autonomous communities and 34 provinces, but where exactly is olive oil produced and of what variety? Let’s see it:<\/p>

    2.1. Andalusia.<\/h4>

    If there is something for which the autonomous community of Andalusia is known, it is for being one of the great olive oil producers in our country and in the world. In this region alone there are more than a million and a half hectares dedicated to olive trees. And among the olive groves of this community with which olive oil is produced, we find different varieties spread in its provinces. The most important ones are:<\/p>