Valencian citrus farming, especially Castellón's clementines, faces increasing competition from South Africa in the European market. After initially entering with oranges following the 2016 free trade agreement, South African small citrus has gained significant ground. Between September 2025 and July 2026, exports of this variety to the European continent grew by 14.4% compared to the previous year, reaching 169,904 tons.
Official data from the Ministry of Agriculture reveal a 117% increase in South African small citrus shipments in just five years, exceeding the average of the previous five campaigns by 55.2%. This trend has been consistent, rising from 78,170 tons in the 2020/21 campaign to the current 169,904 tons. In parallel, orange imports, despite a slight decrease compared to the previous campaign (324,983 tons versus 336,699), still exceed the five-year average by 6.3%.
La Unió Llauradora has demanded that the Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, and the Minister of Agriculture, Miguel Barrachina, take action against the rise in imports and the weakening of Valencian citrus farming. The organization requests that Spain formally ask the European Commission to assess the situation and activate the safeguard clause if the conditions stipulated in the Economic Partnership Agreement are met.
The concern is based on the loss of Valencian production capacity, with 16,334 hectares of mandarin trees lost since 2015. La Unió acknowledges multiple factors contributing to this decline but emphasizes that the presence of South African citrus has more than doubled in five campaigns, while Valencian production faces structural profitability issues. "How many more hectares must we lose for European trade policy to also start caring about those of us who produce here?" the organization questions.
La Unió urges Minister Cuerpo to leverage Spain's influence to propose to the European Commission the use of trade defense instruments provided for in the agreement with Southern African countries. The Economic Partnership Agreement includes safeguard mechanisms for import increases that could cause serious disruptions. Therefore, it is considered that the evolution of South African citrus entries justifies a formal request to Brussels for an immediate assessment.
The agricultural organization also calls upon Minister Miguel Barrachina for the Generalitat to publicly demand from the Spanish Government and the European Commission the use of available trade mechanisms when the established conditions are met.
