A sea of olive trees
The gentle undulations of the olive groves in Baen are lost on the horizon looking for the last foothills of the Penibética.
An immense green and silver landscape characterizes the surroundings of Baena
THE OLIVE GROVE IS THE MAIN CROP OF THE ENTIRE REGION
The soil conditions, the dedication in the cultivation and the careful selection of the fruit of 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 area registered in the Registers of the Regulatory Council of the Baena Denomination of Origin is 60,000 hectares of olive groves. Both the orography of the region and its geological constitution is highly variable. The gentle undulations of the Campiña contrast with the steep slopes of the Penibética in the south. The soils are generally limestone, with a high calcium carbonate content, which is why the olive grove finds in this area an optimal environment for its perfect development. The region’s climate alternates between mild winters and not excessively hot summers, favoring the presence of different olive varieties: Picuda, considered the main variety of our denomination, Hojiblanca, Picual, Lechín Chorrúa or Pajarero among other.
The Baena region is an area with an accredited olive-growing tradition. Pre-Roman, Roman and Arab footprints testify to this. Baena became a crossroads to the vast granaries of Baetica. The Arabs extended the cultivation of olive groves. Later, the people of this land knew how to choose the olive tree that best adapted to the soil and climate of the area, the Picudo.
Thanks to the experience of our people, we have a long tradition in the elaboration of Olive Oil, which pampers the product from the beginning of the process, with the care of the olive tree and later the collection of the olive, until the extraction of the oil in our mills.
The importance of the olive tree in our Region is enormous, not only because of the number of hectares of land devoted to its cultivation, but also because of the close relationship that the man of this area has always maintained with this Mediterranean tree.
