The importation of fruits, vegetables, and legumes from foreign countries has continued to rise in recent years, with Spain spending 7,479 million euros on these foods in the period from January to November 2023. This represents a 12.1% increase compared to the previous year. In contrast, exports of these products only grew by 5.2% in the same period, reaching a total of 20,647.6 million euros.

Based on the data from the Ministry of Industry, it is projected that imports of legumes will increase by 16.7% in terms of imported kilos and 16.3% in total spending for 2023 compared to 2022. The purchase of legumes from abroad has been steadily increasing since the pandemic, with a 25% increase in quantity and a 45% increase in cost due to inflation. The volume of imports in euros has reached its highest point and is four times higher than in the 90s.

France is the largest supplier of legumes to Spain, followed by Russia, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Morocco. Only France, Portugal, and the Netherlands adhere to similar environmental protection regulations as Spain, leading to complaints from Spanish farmers about unfair competition from products imported from countries like Russia and Morocco.

The same accusation has been made by the French, who claim that Spain’s strict regulations put them at a disadvantage compared to other European countries.

The difference in regulations is reflected in the final price, with each kilo of imported legumes costing 0.73 euros and each kilo of exported legumes sold for 1.49 euros. Similar trends can be observed in the import and export of fruits, with Spain importing 14.7% more fruit and exporting 29.4% less fruit since the start of the pandemic. However, the rise in fruit prices has compensated for the decrease in volume.

The most imported fruits in Spain include potatoes, dried pod vegetables, figs, pineapples, avocados, bananas, plantains, citrus fruits, apples, pears, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and kiwis. On the other hand, the most exported fruits are oranges, fresh vegetables, melons, watermelons, apricots, and lettuce.

Costa Rica, Morocco, and Peru are the top three countries from which Spain imports fruit, with Costa Rica being the largest supplier at 2.36 million tons annually.

The price competitiveness of Costa Rican fruit, which costs 0.71 euros per kilo, explains its leadership in the Spanish market compared to Moroccan fruit with a price of 2.44 euros per kilo and Peruvian fruit priced at 2.08 euros per kilo.