Spanish olive growers feel pain from early drought

"Lord, send us water!" The plea for divine support voiced by Bishop Sebastian Chico has so far gone unheard. The cleric in the town of Jaen made the call recently while leading a Catholic Church procession through the southern Spanish provincial capital town. Many olive growers from the region joined him in his prayers to end the long dry spell . The sun was relentlessly burning down on the worshipers whose olive groves haven't seen a drop of rain for several months. If the miracle the locals were praying for won't come about soon, they would be left dealing with huge crop failures for the second year in a row. And the catastrophe won't be felt by the olive growers only. Spanish experts are fearing the pace of price hikes for olive oil will accelerate even further. In the church service preceding Bishop Chico's procession, he warned that "without water, there are no olives," which means hardship for the entire province that depends on the fruit. Jaen province is among the world's ...