Cultivation of tobacco in Spain

When thinking about tobacco crop plantations we recall those American movies in black and white.

However, there’s no need to cross the ocean or to look towards the Middle East to see tobacco plantations: Spain is the third European country in terms of tobacco cultivation (more than 34,000,000 kilos in 2013) as our climate and soil have proved adequate for this type of crop.

Extremadura

In the Nineteenth Century, Extremadura began to experiment with tobacco, and throughout the Twentieth Century its cultivation was introduced in various locations in the area. Today Extremadura produces 95% of the tobacco grown in Spain.

Mainly the variety of Virginia tobacco but also in smaller amounts Burley, Havana and Kentucky varieties.

Tobacco Interpretation Centre

On the farm “Haza de la Concepcion” (Caceres) you can find a Tobacco interpretation center where visitors are explained how tobacco is cultivated and the importance of the crop in the region.

Other communities

As well as Extremadura there are other communities in which tobacco is grown in Spain: Andalucia, Castilla y Leon, Castilla-La Mancha and Navarra spread the other 5% of the national crop

Esta entrada también está disponible en: Spanish