To bad weather, good face. The Valle del Jerte cherries denomination of origin has decided to distribute 60 kilos of cherries between Wednesday and Thursday in Madrid to “highlight the quality of the harvest saved.”
During these two days, the representatives of the farmers in the area have decorated a van with products from Valle del Jerte and are taking it for a walk through central streets such as La Castellana, Velázquez, Goya or Atocha to demonstrate that “despite the catastrophe caused by the rains, the picotas that have been able to be saved have a very good appearance and flavor”, explains José Antonio Tierno, president of the Protected Designation of Origin. In addition, they have set up a point near the Plaza de Colón, specifically, at Calle Goya 17, and they distribute small packages, with about 10 pillories each.
The designation of origin estimates that some 30 million kilos of cherries have been damaged in that specific area of ??Extremadura, “which could mean losses of about 105 million euros,” Tierno points out.
This situation is being experienced by farmers of this crop in various areas of Spain. This same morning, those from Alicante, through the Asaja employers, estimated the losses at around 25 million euros. Production was expected to reach 4 million kilograms and finally the harvest will be 500,000 kilos in the province of Alicante. Pillory farmers in Tarragona are also affected.
