The serious problems suffered by the Spanish citrus sector are not only due to circumstantial causes arising from competition from third countries, but they also have revealed structural challenges that Spain must address.
Several factors have contributed to what some have called the “perfect storm”. One of them has been the excess of supply; even more considering that, the Spanish citrus production probably reaches the historical figure of 8 million tons during the current campaign.
In addition to this, there has been demand problems due to the delay in the arrival of cold in all Europe. Another reason has been the bad start of the current campaign due to overlapping with Southern hemisphere production and the delay in the starting of the Spanish clementine season.
Once the serious damage caused by the persistent November rain had been overcome, the sector run into logistics trouble generated by the “gilets jaunes” ('yellow vests') at border crossings and in some key communication channels for exports, which are carried out by road.