The Social Tree

Olive oil stirs a deep sense of pride in many a Spaniard. The green gold is a staple of almost every meal here, liberally dashed over slabs of toast at breakfast, drizzled over tuna and onion salads, sizzled on meat and fish, and infused with the eggs and potatoes of a tortilla de patatas.

The mere suggestion that other countries – Italy, for example – are also known for their good quality olive oil can elicit a defensive rebuttal and a pointed reminder that Spain produces nearly half of all the world’s olive oil. The province of Jaén, in Andalusia, with its roughly 66 million olive trees, can in bountiful years account for a fifth of the world’s olive oil production alone.

Olive oil is such a central feature of Spanish food culture that fluctuations in production at farm level are felt acutely by shoppers. During the 2022/23 season, Spain’s olive crop slumped to 666,000 tonnes from the more typical 1.5 million tonnes the year before due to widespread adverse weather such as drought combined with high energy and fertiliser prices.

This sudden plummet sent olive oil prices skyrocketing by a record 111%, making a regular one-litre bottle of olive oil in the supermarket a 10-euro luxury rather than a 5-euro non-negotiable on the shopping list. Harvests and prices have since settled, and it might be tempting to view the events as a flash in an oily pan. But science tells us otherwise.