Spain’s Moroccan Tomato Imports Rise as Growers Report 4,000 Hectares Lost

Moroccan tomato supplies gain ground in Spain

Spain’s imports of fresh or chilled tomatoes from Morocco increased sharply in 2025, intensifying complaints from domestic growers about price competition and declining production. According to official customs data cited by the Spanish government in a parliamentary response and reported by OKDIARIO, Spain imported 87,603.8 tonnes from Morocco between January and December, worth €141.5 million.

In 2024, the corresponding trade amounted to 66,624.3 tonnes valued at €84.7 million. The year-on-year increase was therefore 31.5% in volume and 67.1% in value. Earlier data for the first half of 2025 showed an even steeper 56% increase, with shipments reaching 46,742 tonnes.

Campaign data point to slower growth

Figures covering different reporting periods show that the pace of growth moderated during the latest horticultural campaign. In its preliminary assessment of the 2025/26 season, which ran from September 2025 to July 2026, the Association of Fruit and Vegetable Producer Organisations of Almería, COEXPHAL, said Spanish imports of Moroccan tomatoes rose by 4% to 89,504 tonnes. That compared with growth of 31% during the preceding campaign.

The campaign figures are not directly comparable with calendar-year customs totals because they cover different months. Together, however, they indicate that Morocco maintained a substantial presence in Spain’s tomato market after the strong increase recorded in 2025. The larger rise in import value than in volume also means the average declared value per tonne increased, although the source did not provide a detailed breakdown by variety, grade or contract price.

Morocco leads EU external supply

Morocco is also the European Union’s largest tomato supplier from outside the bloc. During the 2024/25 campaign, the EU-27 imported 792,313 tonnes of tomatoes from third countries. Morocco accounted for 61% of that total, while Turkey ranked second with a 26% share. EU purchases from Morocco were 18% above the average for the previous five campaigns.

These flows make Moroccan production important not only to Spanish wholesalers and retailers but also to the wider European market, particularly when domestic winter supply is limited. For Spanish producers, the figures point to sustained pressure from a supplier that already controls most of the EU’s external tomato trade. Importers, meanwhile, remain exposed to changes in Moroccan output, logistics and market-access conditions because of that high concentration.

Growers link competition to acreage and job losses

Spanish farming representatives argue that imported tomatoes are offered at prices with which local producers cannot compete. Andrés Góngora, secretary general of the agricultural organisation COAG, told OKDIARIO that winter tomato acreage on the Spanish mainland had fallen from 12,000 hectares to 8,000 hectares in five years. The loss of 4,000 hectares represents a decline of 33%, with some farmers abandoning tomatoes or switching to other crops.

Góngora estimated that each hectare of tomato cultivation supports six jobs. On that basis, the disappearance of 4,000 hectares corresponds to approximately 24,000 jobs. These are claims from the growers’ organisation rather than employment figures independently detailed in the customs data, but they illustrate the scale of the domestic industry’s concern.

The policy dispute will therefore focus on the balance between maintaining access to competitively priced supply and protecting the viability of Spanish winter production. For growers, the central questions concern production costs, compliance requirements and the conditions applied to non-EU suppliers. For traders and buyers, any restriction on Moroccan shipments could alter procurement patterns in a market where Morocco supplies the majority of the EU’s third-country tomato imports.