Is Spain fed by Morocco?

During a debate in Madrid, Natalia Corbalán, spokesperson for SOS Rural, noted the decrease in cultivated areas in Spain, leading to a decrease in production and a constant increase in food prices. In two years, the household basket has increased by 27% in Spain, she noted, specifying that "one of the main causes of this problem is the accelerated dismantling of food production, both agricultural and animal".

The European Commission forecasts a 21.5% drop in the area dedicated to tomato cultivation, one of the high-consumption products in Spain, and a 22% drop in its production in the coming years. According to EU foreign trade data, Moroccan tomato imports to the European market have increased from 365,695 tons in 2013 to 557,225 tons in 2022, an increase of 52%, recalls Agronegocios.

"The unequal production conditions, due to the use of phytosanitary products banned in the EU or to semi-slave working conditions, mean that products from Morocco or Egypt are flooding the European market and adding a factor of food insecurity that has already been exceeded," denounces Corbalán. In 2022, fruit exports fell by 10% (12 million tons), says Adolfo García Albaladejo, president of the Ingenio Foundation, noting a rise in prices of fresh products in supermarkets.

"The breeders of our country are forced to sacrifice their livestock due to animal welfare regulations that make it impossible to maintain agricultural holdings; irrational environmental requirements are liquidating agriculture; Agricultural activity is criminalized and, at the same time, the doors are wide open to the massive arrival of products, particularly from Morocco. These policies are destroying the entire economy and life in the rural world," SOS Rural also denounces.