“There was a ladder for my grandchildren to pick the peaches, but they have picked them up on my back, which was much more practical. We have taken two boxes of four kilos. We will repeat for sure”. This is Isidre Castanyer, one of the godfathers of peach trees from Aitona, the town of Lleida known for its visits in March to flowery fruit farms, kilometers and kilometers of pink flowers. He got up early on Saturday in Santa Cecília de Voltregà to be in Aitona at nine on the first Saturday in July.

In March Isidre and his wife Montse Sanmartí went to see the peach trees in bloom that attract more people to Aitona every year and when they were asked to sponsor a tree and pick the fruit they thought of returning with their grandchildren. They have four, two accompanied them, the others were on vacation in the Canary Islands. They enjoyed picked red peach, Paraguayan and nectarine.

“We are farmers and ranchers in Osona. My grandchildren know the countryside, but not the world of fruit trees. It was for them, so that they could see where the fruit comes from, that it is not from a shelf in a supermarket, but from the trees, and that they also see the work that there is,” explains Isidre

He was struck by the fact that there were very few small children for whom he thinks it is very interesting: “In my generation -he is 65 years old- we all had grandparents in the countryside, now we don’t and this contact has been lost a lot, it is totally necessary”.

Josep Saña and his partner, Elisabet from Ripoll also got up early to get to town on time. About 190 kilometers. They collected four boxes of Paraguayans, about 20 kilos. For Josep it was “spectacular, an unforgettable experience”.

Lluis Santasusagna and his partner Elena Pujadas arrived from Vilassar de Dalt. They have been visiting the bloom in spring for many years. They have immortalized it on the Instagram account paisatges_de_catalunya in which they have 101,000 followers. Last year they discovered that they could sponsor fruit trees and they did not hesitate. Lluís describes the experience as spectacular. “Peaches are the best in the world,” he remarks. “I did my military service in Lleida, I remembered that peach flavor and I had never been able to eat it again. Last year I told the farmer, Mr. Climent, that I don’t know where they sell them, because they are not in the stores”, he affirms.

The Aitona City Council has organized the first two Saturdays of July days for the seventy godparents who participated in their proposal “Sponsor a fruit tree” to pick their fruit, one of the initiatives of the Fruiturismo campaign that, according to the mayoress of Aitona, Rosa Pujol, “Not only does it allow the local product to be valued because it aims to dignify and publicize the town’s agriculture and open ways of promoting tourism.”

Sixty of the seventy sponsors have chosen to pick the fruit in the field, the other ten have asked that the City Council send it home, to Valencia, Barcelona, ??Tarragona, Girona and one person to Lleida. In total, a thousand kilos of fruit have been taken by the godparents. “Even if they sponsor 10 or 20 kilos, we give them the chance to take a few more boxes,” explains Bea Obis, a City Council tourism technician.

Every Saturday about a hundred people arrive, the godfathers and godmothers are usually accompanied by two or three people. “They have a great time walking among the trees, picking the fruit, listening to the explanations of a farmer telling them how to pick the peach so as not to damage the tree or the fruit,” explains the technician.

The godfather pays 50 euros if he is going to pick the fruit; if he asks that it be sent to him, there are seventy. Those who want to receive the fruit and a batch of local products pay 90.

Fruit tourism began in Aitona in 2011 and has promoted rural tourism in the town and the opening of workshops for products made with fruit. Continues to grow. A company from the town, Figas La Negra, has begun to offer tourists the chance to go fig picking in August. Some godfathers of peach trees have already been interested.