The Catalan hazelnut, at risk of disappearing

GironaThe Catalan hazelnut is in danger. In 1985, nearly 35,000 hectares of hazelnut trees were cultivated in Catalonia, but since 2024 only about 7,800 remain, and the trend continues downwards. In the last five years, the cultivated area has fallen by almost 30%, and furthermore, due to the effects of the drought, the yield of the farms has decreased by up to 70%. The harsh working conditions in the fields and the advanced age of the farmers, added to the lack of generational replacement and the destructive effects of climate change on the harvest, paint a very uncertain future for the sector, which is asking for help from administrations to keep this native crop alive. Currently, 85% of the production is concentrated in Camp de Tarragona, where the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) of the Reus hazelnut stands out, and in Girona, and in a small enclave of just over 600 hectares of fields in Brunyola, in La Selva, where about fifteen producers also cultivate this dried fruit.

“The sector is in a very critical moment because the production capacity has dropped significantly: the hazelnuts of four or six years ago are not being produced, since the drought. Furthermore, there are pests and the farmers are very discouraged because we are not getting by with the quality and quantity we were accustomed to,” explains Ester Gomis, president of the Reus Hazelnut PDO. The key factor in this decline is the climate emergency, as it is a crop that needs cold and a lot of water. “In the Riudecanyes area, the reservoir became empty with the drought and could not supply water to the hazelnut trees. Furthermore, the summer heatwaves are getting stronger, also in the mountain areas and near the sea, and this damages the trees,” she laments.

Not all hazelnuts can be sold under the Reus PDO

According to Gomis, the Reus hazelnut is "very good and very healthy, with traditional local varieties", and the PDO sets very strict quality characteristics. This has caused that in recent years all the fruits from the Tarragona fields that have had some defect, in size, taste or appearance, due to the poor harvest, could not be sold with this distinction of excellence. The PDO includes the negreta variety, which is the most typical, but also others less known but highly appreciated, such as paueteta, gironella, morella and culplana.

Old hazelnut fields abandoned or sold to cereal producers

Old hazelnut fields abandoned or sold to cereal producers

Outside of Reus, in Brunyola, a small village of 400 inhabitants at the foot of the Guilleries, the situation is just as fragile. To try to leverage efforts, some producers in the area have joined together in common projects like Nuasets, which groups four families, with a total of 60 hectares, who sell the hazelnut already peeled and toasted, as well as a lot of their own creations like praline, hazelnut paste, and nougat. "The average age of producers is very high, new farms are not being planted and they are being lost. Without generational replacement, these fields are sold to third parties for cereal crops or are left abandoned, with the risk of fire that this entails," explains Pere Arbonès, a producer from Girona and partner of Nuasets. To appeal for their survival, farmers also claim the environmental value of hazelnut fields: "It is a very interesting crop, because with rainwater it stays green all year round, grass grows on the land, which prevents erosion, a lot of fauna lives there, and it prevents the forests from drying out dangerously in summer," argues Arbonès.

To publicize this Gerundense crop (which comes from the negreta variety), every autumn, since 1995, the producers of Brunyola, under the protection of the City Council, organize the Hazelnut Fair, a great showcase with stalls, tastings, contests, and leisure activities. "People often don't know that there are also hazelnuts in Girona. There used to be 1,200 hectares here and it was an important sector for the local economy. Now many producers have also started to make derivative products, not just sell hazelnuts in the shell, and the Fair is our big day," Arbonès concludes.

The department presents the Hazelnut Plan

Faced with this situation, the sector is requesting support from the administration and also research resources to adapt crops and seeds to climate change. To respond, the Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food, has presented a Hazelnut Plan 2026-2028 with the aim of recovering and guaranteeing the continuity of the sector, reinforcing the quality and differentiation of Catalan hazelnuts and increasing their market value. The plan is deployed through seven strategic axes that include measures in sustainable production and plant health – with the creation of a nut plant health hub–, new aid and funding for all cultivated hectares, initiatives to enhance the quality and gastronomic promotion of the product, improvements in irrigation with the use of regenerated water and the creation of governance and monitoring spaces for the sector, with the aim of halting its decline, guaranteeing generational succession and avoiding the loss of farms.