Name: How climate change is threatening Spains ancient saffron production
Uploaded: 2025-11-14T08:57:41.948Z
Duration: 2 min 47 s
Description: In the hills of Catalonia, farmer Jaume Casado Carulla picks purple flowers on a land steeped in tradition, where saffron was cultivated hundreds of years ago. But now, the flowers don’t bloom like they used to. Farmers have said the production of the spice faces many challenges, in part due to warmer temperatures linked to climate change, leading to a shorter harvest for the flower.

In the hills of Catalonia, farmer Jaume Casado Carulla picks purple flowers on a land steeped in tradition, where saffron was cultivated hundreds of years ago. But now, the flowers don’t bloom like they used to. Farmers have said the production of the spice faces many challenges, in part due to warmer temperatures linked to climate change, leading to a shorter harvest for the flower.

Sant Esteve de la Sarga

Spain's historic saffron industry is experiencing significant challenges as climate change and record droughts reduce crop yields. Farmers in Catalonia and La Mancha report a 30-40% decline in saffron production since 2021, with the quality of the spice remaining stable but the quantity dropping sharply. 

Experts attribute the decline to delayed autumns and rising temperatures, while also noting that the sector's reliance on centuries-old manual methods has left it vulnerable. In response, cooperatives are developing automated harvesting technologies and experimenting with hydroponic cultivation and certified bulbs to help revitalize the industry.

How climate change is threatening Spain's ancient saffron production

Nestled in the hills of Spain's Catalonia lie these small purple saffron flowers. Saffron has been cultivated on this land for hundreds of years. But today, the flowers aren't blooming like they used to, as farmers are grappling with climate change and structural shifts that threaten the delicate balance of their centuries-old craft. Farmer Jaume Casado Carula has been producing saffron with his wife Magda for 11 years. We don't understand the year or the months or winter without saffron. It marks the beginning and end of our year. But recently, Carula and other farmers have said climate change has disrupted their harvest. Saffron is a crop that awakens with the first cold weather, with the first humidity of autumn. So when you delay the arrival of autumn, you're also delaying the crop, and that has affected us in saffron, resulting in productions where the quality has remained the same, but the quantity of saffron has been declining, especially since 2021 until 2024. Carula adds that he's had a 30 to 40 percent decrease in production of the spice in recent years, which has coincided with a significant drought across Spain. A 2022 study showed that climate change left the Iberian Peninsula at its driest in 1,200 years. In 2024, the Catalonia region, where Carula farms, suffered its worst drought on record. And in La Mancha region, Carlos Fernandez, head of OPAS Cooperative, Spain's first saffron producers organization, says a drop in production since around 2018 coincides with the rise in temperatures. But he says climate change isn't the only detriment to the industry. Structurally, our sector in Spain is very weak. And I see that as the first and biggest problem, now compounded by environmental factors that are reducing our production. The current structural weakness, Fernandez explains, comes from relying too heavily on manual methods that have remained unchanged for centuries. And he says modernization is urgently needed. In response, Fernandez and his cooperative are working to revitalize the sector by developing automated prototypes for harvesting and thread extraction, with functional models expected by 2026. They are also experimenting with hydroponic cultivation and certified Dutch bulbs to improve plant health and productivity.

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