Mallorca's olive groves: a thousand years of olive growing
The olive groves of Mallorca are much more than a source of olive oil. They are the landscape, the culture and the memory of an island that has been caring for its trees for more than a thousand years. Understanding where the oil you buy comes from is part of enjoying it fully.
Origins: Romans, Arabs and farmers
Olive growing in Mallorca probably goes back to Roman colonisation, though it was the Arabs who, during their rule from the 8th to the 13th century, systematised and decisively expanded Mallorca's olive groves. Dry-stone terrace cultivation, the irrigation system and the selection of native varieties such as Empeltre are a direct legacy of that period.
After the Christian conquest in the 13th century, Mallorcan farmers (payeses) inherited and continued these traditions. For centuries each estate had its olive trees and its mill, and made its own oil for family and local use. Mallorcan oil was a currency, a staple food and an export product long before tourism was invented.
The Serra de Tramuntana: the heart of the olive groves
Today the greatest living heritage of this legacy is concentrated in the Serra de Tramuntana, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011 for the extraordinary combination of cultural and natural landscape that includes these historic olive groves. The dry-stone terraces, some built more than 500 years ago, make it possible to farm slopes impossible for conventional agriculture, and are kept up today by cooperatives and families who refuse to let that heritage be lost.
The producers we carry at MallorcaGourmet
Oli Caimari
Oli Caimari comes from the village of Caimari, in the heart of the Serra de Tramuntana, and its oils carry the Oli de Mallorca PDO. Its Oli Caimari EVOO 250 ml is an accessible introduction to the quality of Mallorca's historic olive groves.
Antoni Mateu
An independent artisan producer whose way of working combines respect for Mallorcan tradition with a firm hand on quality control. Try the Antoni Mateu Coupage 250 ml.
Early-harvest Oli Verjo
The Oli Verjo 500 ml represents the latest trend in premium oil: early harvest, when the olive is still a deep green and the oil reaches its highest concentration of polyphenols and fresh herbal aromas. A cult oil for fans of high-end EVOO.
Why knowing the origin matters
An oil with a name and a surname, with an identified producer and a real history, is an oil you can trust. There are no shortcuts or secrets: good olive trees, good hands and an island that has spent a thousand years showing the world how olive oil is made.
Bring Mallorca to your table
Products from Mallorca that go with this article, shipped across Spain and Europe.
