The “uberization of Spanish olive groves” wipes 59% of farms off the map

“If the new model of corporate oligopolies prevails in the sector, Spain is heading towards an olive grove without farmers,” said Juan Luis Ávila, head of the olive sector at COAG, during the presentation yesterday in Seville of the study, “The uberization of the Spanish olive grove: zoom in on Andalusia”. COAG has highlighted that, at a general level, the purchase and sale of rural properties has experienced a significant increase, with an increase of 20% compared to 2019. This boom is being led by large speculative investment funds, both national and foreign, which are looking for attractive crops such as woody crops (in the case of olive groves) and super-foods. Currently, in the Iberian Peninsula more than 900 funds already own land valued at more than 100 billion euros. In the specific case of olive groves, especially in Andalusia (with a great impact in the provinces of Seville, Córdoba and Cádiz), the process of uberisation has been one of the factors that has influenced ...