The opposite can be seen as a consequence when activity surfaces during a health crisis, especially since it is among the activities that most attracted the troubled economy of Alicante. Yet the truth remains stubborn: the latest data from the National Statistics Institute shows agriculture in clear decline in this region. In just ten years, at least 3,934 farms disappeared and 27,343 hectares of crops were lost, marking declines of 18 percent and 17 percent respectively. Trees for fruit, vineyards, olive groves, vegetables and citrus are hit hardest by a downturn that agricultural groups attribute to a lack of profitability, generational changes, and rising costs for essentials like irrigation water.
The most recent agricultural census, covering 2020, paints a bleak picture for Alicante’s farming sector. When compared with the 2009 census, the evolution is stark. The published figures show 21,944 farms and 132,592 hectares dedicated to crops, alongside 25,878 farms that existed before, contrasting with the 159,935 counted a decade earlier.
The decline affected nearly all crops, with only a few exceptions. Yet the crops with the greatest weight in the province show sizable reductions in cultivated areas. Fruit trees fell from 37,248 hectares to 25,152 over a decade; vineyards dropped from 21,625 to 11,291; olive groves from 28,971 to 22,508; vegetables from 10,154 to 6,290; and citrus from 33,111 to 30,427. Cereals decreased from 9,234 to 8,511 hectares; flowers and ornamental plants from 556 to 175; and nurseries from 786 to 516.
Only roots and tubers, industrial crops, and legumes showed slight area increases, rising from 573 to 1,391 hectares, from 903 to 1,047, and from 462 to 491 hectares respectively.
Agricultural groups point to several factors behind the slide. The primary issue is persistent unprofitability. A leading voice in Alicante’s farming community notes that producers have long faced problems that have worsened, even below production costs, due to rising prices for inputs like fertilizers, pesticides, and energy.
The other major factor is the ongoing disruption of water transfers and the rising price of irrigation water, a critical resource. The decline in vegetable production is the clearest example of the consequences, which supports calls for relief. The census data appear to justify the concerns raised by the sector about water reliability and pricing.
Local leaders emphasize that the lack of a stable water strategy undermines farming viability. The administration’s role in providing dependable irrigation solutions is seen as insufficient, and investments in desalination plants have not delivered affordable water, leaving the region with a strategy that feels political and not optimal.
Chambers in Alicante and Orihuela insist that desalinated water cannot fully replace the Tajo-Segura transfer for irrigation in the province.
Peris also highlights another weight on agriculture: the absence of generational change. Low profitability means retiring farmers cannot easily find young successors, a problem especially visible in small farms focused on olives and vineyards. The Unió leadership notes that all factors seem to work against the province’s model of medium and small farms.
Data from INE show a shift in farm size: 6,317 farms under one hectare now exist, up from 5,188 in 2009. Meanwhile, the number of larger farms over 100 hectares has fallen, from 182 ten years ago to 137 in the latest census. Alicante’s terrain helps explain why the pattern diverges from neighboring Valencia, where large farms and investment funds increasingly dominate, a trend not yet possible in this province.