Producers in Spain’s Murcia region have reported damage to stonefruit, citrus and grape crops across several provinces, following heavy hailstone showers over recent days.
According to regional growers’ association Asaja Murcia, the hailstones, which affected the south-eastern corner of Spain during the weekend, damaged grapes and citrus in the provinces of Alhama and Librilla, as well as nectarines, peaches, apricots and plums in Cieza, Blanca and Abarán.
In a statement, Asaja Murcia general secretary Alfonso Gálvez Caravaca said that growers in the region were hopeful that the weather over the coming days would not endanger the stonefruit campaign, which was also being threatened by strong winds sweeping through the region.
However, in spite of this apparent setback to the stonefruit season, leading Murcia-based export consortium Hortiberia has said it is “optimistic” for the prospects for the region’s summer fruit and vegetable campaign.
Meanwhile heavy rain fell over many areas of Catalonia since Sunday, although Lleida, where much of the region’s stonefruit industry is concentrated, appears so far to have been spared the worst of the weather.
According to the Catalonian Meterological Service (SMC), rain has fallen, almost continuously, in Barcelona during the last three days, with over 100 litres per square metre recorded in the city.
Some of the heaviest rainfall was seen in the province of Font Rubí to the south of Barcelona, with more 110 litres of rainfall reported, while 81 litres of rain were seen in parts of the northern Girona province.
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