Conical, fleshy, delicate, tartly sweet and richly red, the raspberry has become something of a queen among berries. Spain’s raspberry production, along with that of blackberries and blueberries, is exported to the countries of central and northern Europe, where its qualities (including being a good source of fiber and vitamin C) are best appreciated. Cultivation of these tiny but flavor-packed fruits, both in the open air and in greenhouses, is concentrated in Extremadura and Andalusia. We went along to take a look.

Every morning Ana Esther drives along these winding roads barely wide enough for a car, traversing the highest mountain pass in Extremadura to get to La Vera. Into this dramatically hilly terrain, human ingenuity has contrived to fit greenhouses, using terracing to overcome the obstacle of steeply sloping land: artificially created banks of soil, contained and supported by granite walls, have made it possible for fruit trees and bushes to be grown here. Javier García’s greenhouses, staggered to capitalize on every inch of land, heave into view layer by layer as we approach. This farmer has installed eight plastic enclosures on an area that adds up to 1,700 m² (18,298 sq. ft.)—a holding the same size as his father’s. He works it alone, helped by his wife during the harvest. “The Jerte Valley is split up into very small holdings because the land is family owned and parents divide up their properties so that their children can each inherit a share,” explains Luengo. The purpose of her call here today is to act as consultant to Javier in preparation for spring.

That is when the raspberry canes begin to put out the lateral branches which will bear fruit later in the spring, when the first harvest occurs. Later, in early summer, the plant is cut back: by that time, suckers (offshoots of the parent plant) will have appeared alongside. By late summer they in turn will be fully grown and will themselves sprout lateral branches ready to give a second fruiting in autumn. The whole sequence then starts again: the plant is cut back, then hibernates through the winter until the following spring.

Using this method of cultivation, fruit is harvested from late April until the last week in December. When the raspberries reach their ideal point of ripeness, they are delicately picked off the plants by local women. They start picking first thing in the morning, selecting the fruit as they go and placing it in different containers hanging from their belts according to quality. The ripest fruit would never survive long-distance travel and therefore goes to the freezing and processing market.

By 1:00 pm, the raspberries have reached the San Lorenzo Cooperative in Garganta de la Olla, already packed in 125 g (4.4 oz) punnets, themselves packed into plastic boxes. A classifier certifies the quality of the fruit which is then held in cool-rooms until trucks arrive to take it to the Jerte Valley Cooperative Group’s premises in Valdastillas where production is centralized. There, a processing line of workers simply weighs the punnets, puts lids on them and packs them into cardboard boxes. The fruit is then loaded onto trucks bound for foreign parts.

José Luis Álvarez started work at the Cooperative Group 20 years ago, and his current role is a commercial one. He has played an active part in the whole process that has turned the Jerte Valley and La Vera into raspberry-growing areas with their epicenter in Garganta de la Olla. “Raspberries were introduced 40 years ago, though growing only started to go professional 23 years ago. At first, we grew the Zeva variety for the frozen food market. In those days it was planted in the open-air because the farm workers were excellent fruit and vegetable growers and were great at irrigation and soil management. But ten years ago we introduced new varieties such as Heritage and, later, Ruby and Glen-Lyon, which are grown in greenhouses and destined for the fresh produce market.” Today, of the 60 ha (148 acres) of raspberry plantations, 38 ha (93 acres) are in greenhouses. They produce a total of 600 tons of fresh raspberries and 250 tons of frozen, figures which translate into earnings of 3.6 million euros and 400,000 euros, respectively. Ninety percent of fresh raspberries and 60% of frozen go for export, with Spain’s jam industry taking up the rest. “Autumn is a good time of year for trade because other areas have no raspberries then,” explains Álvarez. “When we adopted the greenhouse system, we looked to Huelva as our model.”

On the basis of this varied range and high-quality product, Alconeras now has a contract with Driscoll’s, one of the biggest berry producers in the world, to supply fruit to Berry Alliance, which sells its products in Europe.

Henrique Mariño is a Galician journalist who has worked on the Madrid staff of the national daily El Mundo and as Rome and London correspondent for the regional daily La Voz de Galicia. Now, he is an Intern journalist at Spain Gourmetour.