The PSOE in Málaga demands that the central Government, the Junta, and the Diputación implement a support plan for muscatel grape growers in Axarquía, with losses of up to 70% in some plots due to heatwaves.
The PSOE in Málaga has called on the central Government, the Junta de Andalucía, and the Provincial Diputación to jointly provide aid for muscatel grape growers in Axarquía, who have been affected by successive heatwaves that have caused losses of between 60% and 70% in some farms, according to estimates provided by municipal officials. The request, which expands on a demand made days earlier by mayors in the region, was made during a visit to a farm in Almáchar, as reported by Diario Sur.
The meeting included the mayor of Almáchar, Antonio Yuste (PSOE); the mayor of El Borge, Raúl Vallejo; the mayor of La Viñuela and provincial deputy, José Juan Jiménez; the secretary of Organisation of the Málaga PSOE, José Bernal; the Andalusian parliamentarian Patricia Alba, and local farmers. Yuste insisted that there are farms with losses of up to 70% and has called for measures to maintain the viability of these small family-run farms.
“Families like Marisol and Paco work all year round, from pruning to harvesting, and see how year after year, for one reason or another, they lose a good part of their crop,” Yuste stated.
The mayor recalled the series of difficulties faced by traditional vineyards in the region: after several years of drought, downy mildew caused significant damage in 2025, and this summer extreme temperatures have deteriorated a campaign that initially showed better prospects. Yuste explained that technicians from the Junta have already visited affected farms following the request made by the mayors of Almáchar and El Borge.
The figures provided by municipal officials represent a worsening compared to initial forecasts. ASAJA Málaga initially estimated losses of around 40% of the expected harvest, especially in areas of Almáchar and El Borge; subsequently, the mayors raised the impact to 60% and pointed out specific plots with damages close to 70%. The overall extent of the loss will need to be determined with the corresponding technical assessments.
Yuste has called for “serious, responsible, and genuine” aid and linked the survival of the farms to the protection of an agricultural landscape internationally recognised as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS). He also criticised that a budget item from the Junta initially allocated €120,000 has been reduced to €10,000.
“If we truly believe in this territory, we must invest in it,” he demanded.
The mayor of La Viñuela and provincial deputy, José Juan Jiménez, extended the concern to municipalities such as Almáchar, El Borge, Iznate, La Viñuela, or Canillas de Aceituno and has called for active participation from the Diputación. “A very good harvest was expected, but successive heatwaves have reduced it to unexpected extremes,” he stated. For Jiménez, the three administrations must “work together” because “the need is urgent.”
Farmer Marisol Roca has assured that there is a sense of abandonment among those maintaining small farms in the region. “Small farmers are the great forgotten ones,” she stated. After recalling the problems with downy mildew last year and the losses now caused by the heat, Roca warned that chaining several negative campaigns makes it increasingly difficult to continue with the cultivation.
“If they really don’t want this to be lost, they need to provide aid,” the producer concluded.
The new socialist demand comes a week after the mayors of the area requested an urgent response to a harvest that began with recovery expectations and deteriorated as August progressed. The uncertainty remains regarding the total volume of production that will ultimately be lost and what extraordinary measures the administrations will activate to prevent a new poor campaign from accelerating the abandonment of traditional Axarquía vineyards.
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