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FOOD AND DRINK

Granada’s mayor stirs debate by calling for end of free tapas

Bars in the Andalusian city are famed for offering generous free servings of food with most drink orders, but Granada’s mayor has caused concern among locals after suggesting customers “should pay for tapas”.  

Published: 12 April 2022 11:16 CEST
Granada's mayor stirs debate by calling for end of free tapas
Could Granada's free tapas traditions soon be coming to an end? Photo: Hiki Liu/Unsplash

Anyone who’s been to the enthralling city of Granada will no doubt have experienced its unique bar scene, where huge, often high-quality tapas are dished up at no extra cost with every round of cañas (small beers) or wine that is ordered. 

All over Spain, you’re likely to be offered some nuts, olives or crisps to accompany your drinks, but this generosity is taken to another level in Graná, an allure which keeps customers ordering.

So it’s no surprise that among Spaniards, Granada is as synonymous with La Alhambra as with its tapas gratis (free tapas).

But this tradition may now be under threat after the mayor of the city of Granada Paco Cuenca recently said his government “will never again promote free tapas”. 

“Tapas have to be paid for because they are haute cuisine,” Cuenca said during the Saborea Sin Prisa Granada (Take your time tasting Granada) gastronomic contest.

Granada’s mayor admitted his administration had deliberately omitted the word “tapas” from the competition’s name in a bid to move away from the association the city has with free food.

Granada’s tapas tradition dates back to the early 1900s when local bar owners would take an ad out in the newspaper to promote their free “tapadera” of salchichón meat or snails with their wine or coffee. Source: National Library of Spain

“We want people to sit down at the table and enjoy small bites of food à la carte which they pay for, this is what is profitable and creates stable work,” Cuenca said to contestants. 

“We have unique food products, magnificent establishments and professionals. We have to believe in what we have and position ourselves where we deserve”.

Neither the city of Granada nor the whole province which goes by the same name have a single Michelin-starred restaurant.

READ ALSO: Six great reasons to visit Granada (besides the Alhambra)

Cuenca’s comments have stirred debate among granadinos over whether Granada is selling itself short by focusing more on quantity over quality and not promoting itself as a high-end gastronomic destination. 

Some say the free-food-with-drink model is ingrained in the local lifestyle and offers people a cheap option to eat out, whilst voices in the hospitality sector argue that rising food costs and inflation mean the model is no longer as sustainable. 

Then there are those that point out that it’s perfectly possible for haute cuisine and free tapas to co-exist in the city – as is currently the case – whilst finding ways for Granada to be seen as a more exclusive gastronomic destination. 

With the debate still raging, Cuenca has since sought to clarify that he meant that “Granada is much more than its tapas”, but his detractors say “there is no Granada without free tapas”.

What seems clear is that there will be no municipal bylaw which outright bans one of Granada’s biggest attractions, but rather a push to be recognised as more than just a land of cheap eats; and instead a gastronomic hub that knows its own worth.

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FOOD AND DRINK

‘Stress test’: Olive oil producers adapt to climate change

Olive oil producers are improving irrigation and seeking new varieties of olives to safeguard production as climate change upends harvests, causing prices of the staple of the Mediterranean diet to soar.

Published: 27 June 2024 16:58 CEST
'Stress test': Olive oil producers adapt to climate change

“Climate change is already a reality and we need to adapt to it,” according to the executive director of the International Olive Council (IOC) Jaime Lillo.

He spoke at the opening of the three-day olive oil congress in Madrid which brings together 300 participants from around the globe.

The gathering came as the world’s top olive oil producers, including Spain, Italy and Greece, have recorded an unprecedented drop in production over the past two years due to extreme drought and repeated heatwaves.

Global production of olive oil fell from 3.42 million tonnes in the 2021-2022 season to 2.57 million tonnes in 2022-2023, IOC figures show.

And according to data supplied by the organisation’s 37 member states, it is set to fall again in 2023-2024 to 2.41 million tonnes.

This has caused prices to soar by between 50 percent and 70 percent over the past year, depending on the variety concerned.

Prices in Spain, which supplies around half of the world’s olive oil, have tripled since 2021, to the dismay of consumers.

READ ALSO: Spain to eliminate tax on olive oil to ease price jump

‘Complex scenarios’

Olive oil has been an essential part of the Mediterranean diet for thousands of years. Spaniards for instance use it to cook and to season fish, salads, vegetables and other dishes.

“The rise in prices has been a particularly demanding stress test for our sector. We have never experienced anything like this before,” said Pedro Barato, the head of the Spanish Olive Oil Interprofessional Organisation.

“We have to prepare ourselves for increasingly complex scenarios that will allow us to face up to the climate crisis,” he added, likening the “turbulence” faced by olive producers to that experienced by the banking sector during the 2008 financial crisis.

The outlook is not encouraging.

Over 90 percent of the world’s olive oil production comes from the Mediterranean basin.

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has said this region is warming 20-percent faster than the global average.

This situation could affect world production in the long term.

“We are facing a delicate situation” which implies “changing the way we treat trees and soil”, said Georgios Koubouris, a researcher at the Greek Olive Institute.

“The olive tree is one of the plants best adapted to a dry climate. But in an extreme drought, it activates mechanisms to protect itself and no longer produce anything. To grow olives, you need a minimum amount of water,” said Lillo.

‘Find solutions’

Among the possible solutions raised at the Madrid congress is genetic research.

In recent years hundreds of varieties of olive trees have been tested to identify the species best adapted to higher temperatures.

The goal is to find “varieties that need fewer hours of cold in winter and that are more resistant to stress caused by lack of water at certain key times” of the year, such as spring, said Juan Antonio Polo, head of technology at the IOC.

The sector is also looking to improve water use by storing rainwater, recycling wastewater and employing technology to use less water to irrigate trees.

This means abandoning “surface irrigation” and instead using “drip systems” which bring water “directly to the roots of the trees” to avoid water loss, said Kostas Chartzoulakis of the Greek Olive Institute.

Farmers are abandoning production in certain areas that could become unsuitable for olive trees because they are too dry and moving them to other regions.

There has been a rise in new olive tree plantations, although on a small scale, in regions previously not used to grow the crop, said Lillo, adding that he was “optimistic” about the future.

“With international cooperation, we will gradually find solutions,” he said.

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