The new flowering campaign ‘Aitona en flor’ incorporates new features this year such as the experience of spending a night among fruit trees to contemplate the starry sky and tastings of local products.
The first visits to the flowering fields of peaches and nectarines of this town in Segrià, in Lleida will begin at the beginning of March and again, the City Council expects thousands of visitors to see “the spectacle” of the flowering that turns the fields into a sea of ??pink. Farmlands.
Fruiturisme, the City Council’s project, has closed an agreement with the Raimat winery to offer vermouth and wine tastings. The firm ‘Aitona Gourmet’ also joins the campaign with oil pairings.
According to the mayor of Aitona, Rosa Pujol, the initiative generates about 400,000 euros in the municipality.
For more than 10 years, Aitona has taken advantage of the visual spectacle of the flowering fruit fields to attract visitors from all over the world.
Last year it is estimated that about 27,000 came, but these are only those counted in the guided tours and many go on their own.
Next March, if the weather permits, the fruit trees will begin to bloom; there are already weekends in which the entire sign has had to be hung.
There is interest from Asian tour operators, confirmed Korean groups and also visitors from California.
Regarding the novelty of spending a night under the starry sky in the fruit fields and waking up surrounded by pink flowers, the Fruiturisme technician, Bea Obis, said that it will be the “Premium experience that only a few privileged people can enjoy for 55 euros per evening”. The night will be spent in igloos with a transparent roof through which the stars can be seen. All this accompanied by a bottle of Raimat cava.
They will continue experiences from other seasons such as balloon flights to see the “pink sea” from the air, a popular walk scheduled for March 3, when the start of flowering is expected, and the explanation of the entire cycle of the fruit tree , from when the flower emerges until the fruit is harvested and subsequently pruned.
Another novelty that has been promoted to respond to many requests from visitors is the possibility of purchasing a fruit tree to plant in the garden or orchard. This year, the slogan chosen is ‘Aitona, the magic of pink’.
The success of the flowering, which has become popular in part thanks to social networks and the images that people post, means that some days there is not enough catering supply due to so much demand. For this reason, this year it is expected that there will be food trucks to complement the gastronomic offer in the area.
The mayor of Aitona, Rosa Pujol, has stressed that the objective of the council is to deseasonalize this tourist proposal and also invite visitors to monitor the evolution of the fruit trees, when they are harvested and also in autumn, with the fall of the tree leaves.
The Aitona project, which extends to other municipalities in Baix Segre, has received recognition that has allowed it to have European funds of 507,000 euros to build a fruit interpretation center and an open-air viewpoint. The forecast is that they will be completed in 2026.
