Today, July 31, is World Avocado Day. Avocados are tropical fruits produced in Spain in regions such as Málaga, Granada, Valencia, and the Canary Islands—areas that enjoy a subtropical microclimate—with consistently mild temperatures and high humidity—that facilitate their cultivation.
A few years ago, production of “green gold” was cut short by the severe drought that struck Spain, but rainfall over the past two growing seasons has helped revitalize the sector. Furthermore, according to a Europanel study, 80% of Spanish households purchased avocados during the 2023–2024 season—a clear example of the rise in consumption.
However, the impact of climate change—with increasingly extreme temperatures, long periods of drought, and torrential rains—is one of the major challenges facing marketers and producers of this popular fruit.
“It used to be unthinkable to harvest avocados in November, but it’s already happening in some areas. Farmers in the Axarquía region (Málaga) must adapt and develop ways to protect their crops from this change, and I’m sure they’ll succeed,” says Verónica Fernández, founder of Warakkó, a Spanish company that markets this tropical fruit.
“It consumes the same amount of water as a citrus fruit”
Given this situation, many producers have already implemented specific measures to mitigate the effects of climate change on their plantations. José María Fernández, CEO of Brokaw, a leading tropical fruit nursery, points out that “droughts affect us because farmers won’t plant if there’s uncertainty about water.” However, he clarifies that “the crops are already highly optimized through precision drip irrigation”.
Furthermore, he strongly refutes the myth that avocados consume large amounts of water, an idea that implies this fruit may even be harmful to the environment.
As demonstrated during the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 growing seasons, the drought had a concerning impact on avocado production levels in Spain, but according to the CEO of the Málaga-based nursery, it has been shown that “avocado water consumption is similar to that of citrus fruits, and with sensor technologies, our customers have reduced water consumption by 30–40%”.
Consequences of El Niño
Globally, climate change is also having alarming repercussions on “green gold.” El Niño phenomenon, which consists of a temporary warming of the Pacific Ocean, has serious consequences for Latin American fruit and vegetable crops, as they must contend with extremely high temperatures that affect their harvests.
In Spain, specifically in the La Axarquía region, the company Aguacatera del Sur—a distributor of avocados imported from Peru—has been affected during the current planting season by this weather event, which has also occurred in previous years.
Its founding partner and director of imports, Miguel Ángel Loayza, warns that during the 2026–2027 season, there will be a considerable reduction in the volume of avocados from Peru as a result of El Niño.
Furthermore, because the planting season had to be adapted to this adverse weather condition, prices have also trended downward. “This factor has forced us to harvest quickly, and we’ve gone through weeks with a heavy volume of fruit in warehouses due to the anticipated shortage of supplies, which has caused prices to fluctuate,” he concludes.
In the future, although it will be essential to implement effective methods on plantations to cope with potential droughts and widespread temperature increases, avocados will likely continue to play a prominent role in Spanish households.
