Spain's Failing Avocado Harvest Is a Warning for the Rest of the World's Supply
Depleted reservoirs and rising temperatures force farmers to rip up their trees in one of the world’s top exporters.
Manuel Lavao grows avocados and mangoes in La Axarquía, a region of southern Spain.
Photographer: Monica Gumm for Bloomberg Businessweek
When Manuel Lavao planted some of Europe’s very first avocado orchards in 1978 in La Axarquía, a sun-soaked stretch of southern Spain, he helped usher in decades of growth for the continent’s exotic fruit sector. Almost a half-century later, he’s pulling up his trees by the thousands.
He’s not alone. As temperatures rise and reservoirs run dry, the southern coast of Spain is struggling to support commercial avocado farms. Shipping around 150 million kilograms (330 million pounds) of avocados last year, Spain was the world’s No. 3 exporter, trailing only Mexico and Peru among producing nations, according to data compiled by Rabobank.