Spain: Balancing Competition and Partnership

From poverty to produce

From the second half of the 20th century onwards, the Almería coastline in the region of Andalusia underwent a rapid agricultural transformation. The region developed from one of Europe’s poorest areas into an agricultural powerhouse. Almería has always been a region of smallholder farmers, working under harsh conditions of low precipitation and semi-arid soils. In contrast to the aridity and water deficit, the annual 3,000 hours of sunlight and warm temperatures create good opportunities for year-round production.

In the 1950s farmers started experimenting with plastic greenhouses. A decade later, the enarenado system (a layer of sand covering the soil to retain water) and new irrigation techniques were introduced. This triggered, in the 1970s and 1980s, a rapid growth of small family-run businesses. Spain’s accession to the European internal market gave the ultimate boost, leading to strong export growth, new investments, knowledge exchange and professionalisation, and accelerating innovation in production hardware and cultivation expertise.

Today, with an annual production of approximately 3.5 million tonnes of vegetables and fruit and an export value ranging between €3.7 and €3.9 billion, the region is rightly called the vegetable garden of Europe. From an economic perspective, the Almería horticultural sector also provides remarkable figures. A complete agro-industrial cluster offers tens of thousands of jobs. Previous estimates mention more than 40,000 direct employment positions and a supporting network of around 14,000 businesses, including cooperatives, research institutions, seed companies, cultivation and irrigation specialists and agro-tech companies.

Competition and complementarity

During Spain’s accession negotiations to join the then European Economic Community (EEC), significant concerns were raised among Dutch growers about “the Spanish Tomato Competition”, driven by lower production costs and more favourable climate conditions in southern Europe. While competition at first sight might seem a burden in horticultural production, it also spurred businesses, innovation and collaboration.

Many Dutch agro-industrial and agro-tech companies have benefited from the expansion of Spanish horticulture and still hold a strong position in its market. In addition, the expansion of horticulture in Almería has given Europe a strong partner in research, knowledge development and innovation. Competition has also shaped production patterns: broadly speaking, Spain produces during northern Europe’s cold winter months, while Dutch growers produce during the hot, dry summer months in southern Europe.

This does not change the fact that producers and traders clearly feel the tension in the market during the spring and autumn overlap. But in summer and winter, Spain and the Netherlands know that one of them has a natural competitive advantage, and together they ensure year-round food security in Europe by providing fresh and healthy vegetables.

Balancing food security and sustainability

Food production anywhere in the world always leaves a footprint and requires continuous evaluation of whether the necessary inputs are justified by the output and the impact of the production system on local ecosystems and health. An important moment that turned Europe’s attention to Almería was in 2006–2007, when the European Commission’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) sent the Spanish Agency for Food Safety (AESA) data from Germany indicating the detection of isofenphos-methyl residues in 9 of the 15 fresh pepper samples analysed. This non-authorised substance was subsequently detected in fresh peppers in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland, among other countries.

The incident coincided with a much broader transition that was already underway in Almería. Biological pest control had been successfully demonstrated on a small scale as early as 1996–1997, but the sector initially lacked the practical knowledge to advise growers on how to manage greenhouses in which beneficial insects and other natural enemies had to be kept alive. Simply releasing biological control agents was not enough: successful implementation required a different approach to crop and greenhouse management.

In the early 2000’s, this knowledge had developed sufficiently to make large-scale implementation possible. At the same time, chemical control was increasingly reaching its limits, particularly because pests such as thrips had developed resistance to available insecticides. Growers were therefore increasingly looking for an alternative. In 2006, around 650 hectares of pepper production were already using biological control. Based on the positive results and growing interest among growers, expectations were that this could increase to around 5,000 hectares the following season. The RASFF incident accelerated the transition further: ultimately, around 6,500 hectares adopted biological control.

The result was what became known as Almería’s “green pest management revolution”. The sector moved rapidly from predominantly chemical control towards Integrated Pest Management (IPM), combining biological control with other measures to manage pests while reducing reliance on chemical pesticides. The transition was therefore not simply a reaction to a food safety scandal. Rather, the scandal accelerated a change that had already become technically feasible and economically attractive. The experience also echoed earlier transitions towards biological control in Dutch horticulture in the early 1990s.

Today, Almería is regarded as a global reference for biological control, with important contributions from Dutch knowledge and agro companies. The experience demonstrates how a sector can move rapidly when technical knowledge, grower confidence and a clear economic and environmental incentive come together.

Future challenges

Greenhouses in Almería are built with low-cost structures thanks to favourable climate conditions and abundant sunlight. This allows production with low investment costs and minimal inputs of energy for heating or lighting.

Agricultural engineer and greenhouse technology specialist Esteban Baeza Romero (PhD) sees this strength as the starting point for how Almería can take future steps in economic, environmental and social sustainability. He explains that the greenhouses are built as moderate-cost structures with plastic enclosures and double wire mesh, which limits airtightness and makes double roofs necessary. The current designs have minimal climate control, with manual and often poor ventilation that frequently leads to suboptimal yields. Although major improvements have been achieved, pest and disease control remain a significant challenge. And although dependence on fossil energy is low and water and fertilisers are used reasonably efficiently, there is still room for improvement.

According to experts, the required improvements lie in a combination of changes to structures and materials, such as dual-purpose screens, different netting and improved roof design, which will create larger volumes and enhance ventilation. Applying new technologies and techniques could boost natural ventilation capacity, while digitalisation could play an important role in further optimising the use of inputs and pest control. In the latter, natural resources like beneficial fauna, supported by flowering plants, are an important measure. This approach was successfully introduced and promoted in Almería’s production systems by Dutch biologist Dr Jan van der Blom at the beginning of this century.

Ongoing connection

For more than 40 years there has been a strong connection between the Dutch horticultural sector and Almería, in which many partnerships have been established, not least thanks to the efforts of LAN’s network. The driving force behind this collaboration has not only been business interests, but also the conviction that two countries with such important greenhouse horticulture ecosystems should assume responsibility for Europe’s food security by providing year-round fresh and healthy food.

To play this role, it is not only technology and efficient production that should guide our approach. We must take into account the impact on nature, and the fact that production systems can only remain productive in the long term if local natural resources are maintained and protected. Providing fresh and healthy food is in the DNA of both Almería and the Netherlands, and LAN Spain will always be part of this story.

This article has been made possible in part by the insights and information shared by Dr Jan van der Blom, retired biologist at COEXPHAL, and Esteban Baeza Romero (PhD), greenhouse technology specialist at COEXPHAL during the LAN Visit to Almeria in March 2026.

Sources: NASA Science / Cambridge Core / HortoInfo / Junta de Andalucia / wetten.overheid.nl / MDPI  / www.researchgate.net / www.youtube.com / edepot.wur.nl