The Olive Press

The Olive Groves
The oldest olive trees at the Alqueria grow on terraces below the main buildings, near the Guadalfeo river. There is a designated pathway running from the Olive Press down through the groves, sometimes wheat is cultivated among the trees.


Cultivation of Olives
Olives are grown throughout the length of the valley floor – sometimes in dry land, sometimes in cultivated, irrigated land which is also used to grow kitchen garden produce. Olives are often planted alongside almond trees, and traditionally vines are planted with chick peas and barley. Olive trees don’t prosper at heights of more than 1000 metres on the northern slopes. Nor will they resist the lack of humidity on the dry sierra of the Contraviesa, according to Pio Navarro in his celebrated anthroplogical book “Tratadillo de agicultura popular”. Caring for the trees consists in ploughing the ground underneath them two or three times a year, feeding the soil with manure and natural composts (such as the remains of grape and olive pressings) every three or four years, and an annual pruning in March. The flowers come out in May and last for 40 days; rain at this time is damaging – “La lluvia en San Juan, quita aceite, vino y pan”, Rain at St. John, no oil, wine or bread, according to the old saying. The olives are collected by teams of workers who climb the trees and beat the branches with long wooden poles. Huge fine meshed nets are spread under the trees and the individual fruits are still, in the main, picked up by hand.

Extraction of the Oil
The oil is pressed in our own press, a small very modern machine that carries out all the procedures: washing and cleaning, beating and milling with its vertical blades to make the paste for pressing, and finally centrifuging to separate any residue from the oil. The oil is left to settle for a couple of months to get rid of any remaining impurities and to concentrate its flavour. It is then bottled for use in our kitchen, bar and restaurant and for our visitors to take home as a souvenir of their stay with us.