2004 began to shape a new form of cultivation and a new industry. Later, in the 1990s, the development of hedgerowstyle olive groves, characterised by an increase in planting density, represented a further, even more radical change (Figure 1). Figure 2 – Evolution of olive grove area in Spain 3,000,000 Rainfed Irrigated Total 2,500,000 2,000,000 1,500,000 1,000,000 500,000 Figure 1 – High-density hedgerow olive plantation This model, the cornerstone of which is mechanical harvesting, involves higher investment costs than the other models. However, its higher productivity in the early years, resulting from the higher 0 Irrigation has also been a key factor in the development of this crop in Spain, contributing to increased production in much of the traditional olive grove area, which came to be irrigated at the end of the last century through the creation of a significant number of large-scale Irrigation Communities comprising a large number of smallholders, with annual irrigation allocations of 1,550 m³/ha or even less. During the period 2004– 2024, the area of rain-fed olive groves remained virtually constant, as no new irrigation licences were granted for existing rain-fed olive groves, whilst new plantations on land with acquired number of trees per unit area and, above all, the possibility of a fully mechanised harvest, combined with the difficulty in securing labour for other models, has led, in recent years, to a remarkable expansion of this system in Spain and other olive-producing countries. Data from Spain Irrigation has been a key factor in the development of this crop in Spain, contributing to increased production in much of the traditional olive grove, which began to be irrigated at the end of the last century… rights for irrigation have led to an increase in the area of irrigated olive groves, which rose from 500,000 to 900,000 hectares during that period (Figure 2). Future developments will, of course, depend on indicate that an increasingly significant proportion of new plantations are being established using this system. In Andalusia, for example, from 2010 onwards, 32% of new plantations were established using intensive systems with up to 800 olive trees per hectare and 26% with even higher densities (CAPADR, 2025). Everything seems to indicate that these systems will become increasingly predominant and will gradually reduce the share of traditional olive groves, which currently account for over 70 per cent of Spain’s olive-growing area, covering more than 1.8 million hectares. the availability of water for irrigation, which is constrained by water reserves and changes in rainfall against a backdrop of climate change, as well as on the profitability of the crop using higherdensity models in rain-fed areas. Indeed, the potential effects associated with climate change will be another factor that will undoubtedly influence new olive grove plantings. The most recent climate projections, based on regionalised models such as EURO-CORDEX and the IPCC scenarios, all indicate that Spain will experience a clear and sustained rise in temperature throughout the 21st century. For the period 2030-2050, an increase is expectedof approximately between +1.5 and 2.5°C Area (ha) 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 40 CULTIVAR ANALYSIS AND PROSPECTIVE STUDIES No. 35 Olive groves and olive oil
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