The Ronda City Council has awarded the three lots of cork from the 2026 campaign for 605,000 euros, with approximately 302,000 kilos sold. Two lots go to a company from Toledo and the largest to a Portuguese firm.
The Ronda City Council has awarded the three lots of cork from the Montes de Propio for a total of 605,000 euros, according to the balance released by the local government of the PP, as reported by Diario Sur. The sold batches total approximately 302,000 kilos.
The company Antonio de María S. A., based in Talavera de la Reina (Toledo), has secured two of the lots. The first comprises around 86,000 kilos and reaches a price of 186,000 euros, while the third, of about 75,000 kilos, has been awarded for another 168,000 euros.
The largest lot, the second, is around 140,000 kilos and has been purchased by a Portuguese company for 251,000 euros. The City Council does not identify in its statement the name of this last awardee.
The Councillor for Contracting, Jorge Fernández (PP), has evaluated the outcome of the procedure and highlighted the difficulties facing the market. According to the councillor, the effects of the drought over the past few years have impacted the quality of the cork, a factor that subsequently affects its commercial valuation.
"The effects of the drought over the past few years have impacted the quality of the cork"
The award comes just over a month after the City Council announced that the cork stripping campaign for 2026 had produced 425,000 kilos, the highest amount since 2021. In August, the City Council reported that this production was going to market divided into three lots with a total valuation of 803,000 euros, VAT included.
The new municipal communication, however, estimates the volume finally included in the three awards at around 302,000 kilos and does not detail what happens with the difference of about 123,000 kilos.
This year's campaign had been notable for the increase in production. The 425,000 kilos extracted exceeded the approximately 366,000 from 2025, the 345,000 from 2024, and the 238,500 recorded in 2023. The extraction was concentrated this time in El Berrueco, a sector of about 350 hectares within the municipal lands located in the area of Cortes de la Frontera.
The Montes de Propio cover more than 4,000 hectares within the Los Alcornocales Natural Park and are divided into ten sectors. This system allows for staggered cork stripping campaigns to respect the cycles of the cork oak and to balance economic use with the conservation of one of the main forest properties of the Ronda City Council.
Fernández has insisted that the income obtained from the sale also has an environmental aspect. The City Council allocates at least 15% of the revenue to conservation and forest management work. Applied to the 605,000 euros from the announced awards, that percentage would amount to at least 90,750 euros for actions in the Montes de Propio.
Among the works financed with these resources are thinning and improvements of the tree mass, the conditioning of paths and extraction routes, and measures for the prevention and fight against forest fires. During the presentation of this summer's campaign, Fernández highlighted the importance of maintaining these preventive actions in a context of high fire risk during the driest months.
Cork constitutes one of the most important economic uses of this municipal estate, although it is not the only one. The Montes de Propio also generate activity related to livestock, hunting, timber, and beekeeping. The City Council defends this model as a way to obtain economic returns from its forest heritage while simultaneously financing its maintenance.
You may also like
