Portuguese olive oil

Olive oil producing regions in Portugal

Located in the south western part of Europe, Portugal has been flanked by the Spaniards on two sides and the Atlantic Ocean on the other two sides. Because of the geographical diversities, climatic variations are also noticed in the different regions of Portugal. The country experiences mostly pleasant and moderate temperature conditions owing to the two major climatic types, the oceanic type and Mediterranean type climates. Of these two, the Mediterranean type climate is conducive to olive production.

Amidst the diverse climates and varied undulating landscape of Portugal, olive groves have developed in certain parts of the country and are slowly emerging as one of the premier cash crops of the country. In Portugal, olive oil groves are found in the Norte Alentjano, the hills of the Moura region, the upper Douro and the Tras-os-Montes in the northern part of Portugal. As a member of the European Union, Portugal has also ventured into exporting olive oil, an activity which it had not embarked in the previous decades. In the Moura regions of south western Portugal, small farmers have ensured their incomes by supplying their olive produce to the various co operatives. Extra virgin oil is also produced in the southern part of the Moura region at Serpa.  The Olidal in the Estramoz region of Norte Alentjano is also a co operative and it is in fact one of the largest mills in Portugal occupying a total area of about 800 hectares. Wine production has been native to Portugal since times of antiquity and in many regions it is found that both vines and olives co exist and are cultivated together. One such area is near Villa Flor in Tras-os-Montes. The five premier olive oil growing regions in Portugal are included under the authority of the European DOP or the Denomination of Origin system. These five regions include Moura, Norte Alentjano, Beira interior, Ribatejo and Tras-os-Montes.