History

Olive growing in Mallorca is one of the most traditional crops and dates back to pre-Roman times. The Roman era (123 B.C. – 465 A.D. saw an improvement in the olive growing techniques.

Letters by Diodorus Siculus, Pliny, Marcià Capella or Statius made reference to its crop and the book De re coquinaria attributed to Gavius Apicius, gastronomist of the year 25 B.C., records that the Romans were already salting olives in a similar way as is done today.

References evidence the export of the Mallorca Olive between the 18th century and beginning of the 19th century:

The Mallorca colonial trade: 1778-1882 Carles Manera Erbina, reflects the export of the olive to the Antilles and other places in America. Thus, in the year 1790 1084 arrobas of Mallorca Olive were accounted, whereas the Archduke Luis Salvador in Die Balearen. Las Baleares descritas con la imagen y la palabra (The Balearic Islands described with image and word) (1871) accounts 29,000 kg destined for America.

Crop

For the Mallorca variety olive the only root that is used is the wild olive tree (Olea europea var. Sylvestris), an indigenous variety of the Mediterranean area present in this environment previous to the olive crop. Consequently, an ideal rootstock for its high rusticity, which is developed wild in Mallorca, giving rise to an excellent adaptation to the milieu.

The crop is mainly grown on terraces, small flat land in the mountain with retaining walls built by local craftsmen with dry stone, where rain is the only water contribution.

Traditionally, the agricultural holdings have been complemented with the presence of sheep and goat which have a three-fold action: elimination of weeds, elimination of shoots and contribution of organic fertilizer. Today, many developments have already incorporated the crushing of pruning residues as fertilizer and, in some cases this is supplemented with fertilizers that do not come from the actual development.

One pruning is carried out every one or two years which is complemented with an annual review of thinning of the olive trees, because it has been found that this practice helps to control the crop rotation.

The purpose of the pruning is to favour the circulation of the sap in all the branches, improve the ventilation and illumination and also clean up the tree by eliminating the parts affected by pests and diseases.

In addition, when the slopes and marges permit this, one or two tillings are carried out each year, depending on needs, to favour the infiltration of rainwater in the furrows and eliminate weeds.

Walled lanes

Generally farmed in terraces, a system that responds to the curves of the land. The terraces have a southerly orientation, first to take advantage of the slopes and maximum sunshine and second, to avoid the cold northerly winds. The difficulty of the land requires a manual harvesting which permits a selection of the ideal olives.
This plantation system gives Mallorca a singular landscape.

Homeland

The farmland suitable for producing olives is of a chalky nature, medium to strong consistency, with an important proportion of thick elements and with an alkali trend PH. They present high stone content, beneficial for the water regime because it acts as a cover reducing evaporation. They have a structure with horizontal layers between which fine clay is accumulated which can be perfectly explored by the root system of the olive trees.

Mallorquina variety

History

Crop

Walled lanes

Homeland

Production area

Oliva de Mallorca facts