Spain makes more olive oil than any country on earth — by a wide margin.
If the olive has a capital, it is Andalusia. The province of Jaén alone is the largest olive-growing region in the world, an inland sea of Picual trees that press the robust, peppery oil filling bottles across the planet. Central Spain adds the well-keeping Cornicabra; the Ebro valley its mild black Empeltre; Catalonia the soft, fruity Arbequina now planted worldwide.
Spain is a table-olive powerhouse too: the everyday Manzanilla that fills the world’s green-olive jars, the giant Gordal of Seville, and the versatile Hojiblanca. It is also, quietly, the source of much oil that ends up wearing other countries’ flags. The Spanish olives we’ve covered so far are below.
The protected cracked green olive of Málaga — split and fresh-cured with thyme, fennel and garlic,…
Arbequina olives: the mild Catalan olive behind everyday oil, how to eat it, and how to…
The compact, early-bearing Catalan olive planted in super-high-density hedgerows worldwide — Arbequina’s partner, giving a fruity,…
The small, pale Levantine-Spanish olive of Alicante — giving an aromatic, fruity, gently bitter oil, and…
The elongated Valencian oil olive — productive and distinctive, giving a fruity, aromatic oil with a…
Coquillo is a small, mild black olive from Murcia, Spain, a close cousin of the true…
Cornicabra — central Spain's robust, well-keeping oil olive.
Empeltre is a slender black olive from Aragon's Ebro valley: mild at the table, pressed into…
The ancient Spanish olive of the Maestrat — the variety behind the world’s great millennial olive…
Gordal means "the fat one" in Spanish: a big, meaty green olive from Seville, sold in…
Hojiblanca — Andalusia's versatile dual-purpose Spanish olive.
The tough, dependable Andalusian olive also called Zorzaleño — a drought-hardy tree giving a fluid, fresh,…
The versatile olive of Extremadura and the Sierra de Gata — a fine green table olive…
Manzanilla — the small, firm, all-purpose Spanish olive that fills most of the world’s green-olive jars.
A traditional olive of Extremadura and the Tierra de Barros — dual-purpose for a fruity oil…
Picual — the world’s most-pressed oil olive: bold, peppery, antioxidant-rich and slow to go rancid.
The aromatic Andalusian olive of Córdoba — named for its beak-like tip, giving a sweet, fragrant,…
A rare large dark olive of the Cazorla hills in Jaén — a regional speciality, dual-purpose…
The hardy late-harvest olive of Extremadura and Málaga — staying green well into winter, giving a…
The Valencian oil olive often blended with Blanqueta — giving a fruity, aromatic, gently bitter oil…