Last year more than 1,800 people visited the Trops fruit firm in Vélez-Málaga and Bodegas Dimobe, an excursion offered via TUI España. The aim of the excursion is to introduce visitors to Malaga Province’s authentic local produce and traditional way of life.
So that’s where avocados come from!
Belén Domínguez, quality controller at Trops, said tourists were astonished to discover that tropical fruit like mango, custard apples, medlar fruit and avocado are grown in La Axarquia. Trops is Malaga Province’s largest producer of mangos and avocados and also one of the biggest retail organisations in Spain’s agricultural sector.
“Most of them think those fruits only come from Caribbean countries, so when they find out that Malaga is one of the few places in Europe where they are not only cultivated, but are top quality and grown in large quantities, they are very interested,” explained Belén Domínguez.
The excursion has only been available since November last year. TUI España organises visits to Trops modern facilities in Vélez-Málaga to show them modern day agriculture practices, but there is plenty of evidence that tourists are also more and more interested in seeing traditional farming methods and farming estates.
Every Wednesday and Friday the tour takes visitors from the UK, Germany, Holland and Belgium by bus to Trops’ facilities.
“We greet them in the cafeteria with a typical breakfast which includes baticate, a smoothie made with avocado, milk, vanilla and cinnamon; there is also coffee, tea or milk, and toast with mango and guacamole jam,” enthuses Belén, adding how tourists love especially the baticate.
“It’s a way of showing them all the different ways that avocado can be used in cookery,” says Paco Hijano, in charge of Trops’ restaurant.
The tour provides visitors with an educational and entertaining look behind the scenes when avocados are ready for harvest, showing how they are weighed, packaged and crated up ready for wholesale.
“We explain the history of the company and the tropical sector of the province. They are amazed at the way the work is organised, and that our premises are so modern and clean,” explains Belén. Guides Sabine and Nadine explain how everything works and is organised at the firm in several different languages and show the visitors around the facility.
Finding the real Andalucía is quite different
Tourists travelling via Tui España get the chance to see the real Andalucía without the rose-tinted glasses of a travel brochure. Visitors are also shown the Antonio Muñoz Cabrera-Dimobe winery, in the village of Moclinejo.
“Tui España wants tourists who come here on holiday to discover the real Andalucía, so it gives them the chance to visit places they wouldn’t otherwise know about,” says guide Sabine, adding how most of their visitors are holidaying at the western Costa del Sol.
At the winery they discover how wines of the region are produced and what different kinds of grape dominate the vineyards of Malaga Province. “The visit also includes a small wine tasting,” explains winery director Juan Muñoz.
Founded by Juan Muñoz Navarrete in 1927, the winery is today one of the province’s most famous wine-producing estates, winning numerous awards for their wines. The Muñoz Anaya brothers took over the estate in 1997 with ambitious plans for expansion, which included a wine museum that houses all the traditional tools their grandfather and father used. The museum has proved very popular with visitors so far and at Trops staff confirms that there is rising demand for this type of tour into the “real Andalucía”.
The excursion and vineyard tour ends with a traditional tapas lunch, served on the sunny terrace of the Reyes restaurant in Plaza de España in Moclinejo. The tours have so far found favour with farmers from other countries, groups of schoolchildren and their teachers and house hunters hoping to discover what living the rural dream in Malaga Province is really like.
These types of tours are certainly eye-openers for anyone thinking about establishing their own rural business, such as a smallholding with a farm shop for example or their own vineyard. Rural life is a far cry from running a bar at Marbella’s golden beaches or living in a chic apartment in Sierra Blanca or golf villa in La Zagaleta.