An immense landscape of green and silver color characterizes the surroundings of Baena
THE OLIVE GROVE IS THE MAIN CROP OF THE WHOLE REGION
The soil conditions, the care in cultivation and the careful selection of the fruit from the olive grove produce in Baena an oil of excellent quality protected by the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) that bears the same name as the city.
The production of olive oil sustains the agricultural economy of the municipality
The area registered in the Registries of the Regulatory Council of the Baena Denomination of Origin is 60.000 hectares of olive groves. The orography of the region together with its soils, generally limestone, mean that the olive grove finds in this area an optimal environment for its perfect development. The climate in turn favors the presence of different varieties of olives such as the picuda , which is the most abundant in the area, the hojiblanca , the picual and the lechín, among others.
The presence of the olive grove in Baena is ancestral. Pre-Roman, Roman and Arab traces attest to this and the archaeological remains on display in the town’s Historical Museum corroborate the importance of this crop over time. It was precisely this experience over the centuries that led to the predominance of the olive tree that best adapted to the climatic and soil conditions of the area, the Picudo.
The town has a long tradition in the production of olive oil and for this reason, special care is taken throughout the production process, from the previous tillage of the olive grove to the collection of the olives and subsequent extraction of the oil in the different oil mills
The importance of the olive tree in Baena is enormous, not only because of the number of hectares dedicated to its cultivation, but also because of the close relationship that since the dawn of time has been maintained in these lands with what has been considered the most emblematic Mediterranean tree.