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Olive harvests are expected to face a second challenging year in a row as heat waves threaten crops across Europe.

For Spain, a big olive oil supplier, the situation is even more worrying given the sector's disastrous output in 2021-2022. 

Drought spells 'catastrophe' for Spain's olive harvest

An ongoing drought and soaring temperatures have unleashed fears of an olive "catastrophe" in Spain, the world's largest producer of olive oil, which suffered a very difficult year in 2022. "This happened as the olive trees were in bloom," says Rafael Pico, director of Asoliva, the Spanish association of olive oil producers and exporters, who fears the blooms will dry up.

Lack of rain and high temperatures saw Spain's olive oil production reduce to 660,000 tonnes, compared to 1.48 million tonnes in 2021-2022.