STORY: Cava producers in Spain struggling to survive severe drought
SHOOTING TIME: May 3, 2024
DATELINE: May 4, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:08
LOCATION: BARCELONA, Spain
CATEGORY: ECONOMY/ENVIRONMENT

SHOTLIST:
1. various of sparkling winemaker Freixenet and vineyard fields in the drought-stricken Catalonia region of northeastern Spain
2. various of Barcelona Wine Week fair
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (Catalan): EVA PLAZAS, Oenologist and president of the Cava Women association
4. various of vineyards, sparkling wine production and stacks of bottles
5. SOUNDBITE 2 (Catalan): EVA PLAZAS, Oenologist and president of the Cava Women association
6. various of vineyards, grape harvest and sparkling wine production
7. various of drought-stricken landscapes, vineyards and water channels

STORYLINE:

With severe drought continuing to affect grape harvests in Spain, producers of the sparkling white wine cava are struggling to survive, an expert told Xinhua on Friday.
   
In the past three years, the Spanish cava industry has accumulated a deficit of 80 million bottles, according to the Designated Origin (D.O.) Cava in Catalonia, where 95 percent of cava in Spain (around 250 million bottles a year) is produced.

In an interview with Xinhua, Eva Plazas, an oenologist at the Vilarnau cava winery and president of the Cava Women association, shared her insights into this industry.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Catalan): EVA PLAZAS, Oenologist and president of the Cava Women association
"One impact of the drought could be that growers who see they can't make a decent living from grapes will have to give up cultivating their vineyards, because they've already had three years of earning only enough to cover expenses without making any profit."
     
In May last year, the Spanish government approved an unprecedented 2.2 billion euros (2.37 billion U.S. dollars) of drought aid.
   
Meanwhile, the cava industry is responding to the conditions of the last few years by changing tack, said Plazas.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Catalan): EVA PLAZAS, Oenologist and president of the Cava Women association
"The landscape is likely to evolve with an increase in newly planted vineyards featuring more resistant grape varieties, and at the same time the number of vines planted per hectare will be much less."

According to the oenologist, recent rainfall has helped the situation, especially younger vines whose roots are closer to the surface. A few more days of rain could save the grape harvest that will begin in August, she said.
   
In the long term, Plazas believes that the solution to reduced cava production due to climate conditions is to promote superior products "which have a higher value and a higher price," especially abroad, where some 165 million bottles of cava are exported every year.
   
The news that one of Spain's largest wine producers is set to furlough 80 percent of its workforce due to the impact of a three-year drought in the region of Catalonia is an example of how the cava industry is taking drastic action to cope with the lack of rain.
   
"The furlough, caused by force majeure, is an exceptional measure that has been taken in the current context of a crisis that had been brought about by a lack of raw materials because of the harsh drought that has affected the sector since 2021," the company said.
   
This week, the Catalan regional government rejected an appeal by the Spanish-German cava giant Freixenet to temporarily lay off 615 of its 778 employees.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Barcelona, Spain.
(XHTV)