Olive varieties including Arbequina, Hojiblanca, Picual, Verdial etc, hundred-year old olive trees and a thousand-year old tradition produce an olive oil of unrivalled quality throughout Málaga province.
The foundation of the Mediterranean diet, olive oil is produced in stone presses and mills that continue to extract this liquid gold just as they did centuries ago. This combination of factors has contributed to the province's olive oils receiving awards from the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture for their variety and quality.
Olive oil production is distributed across three geographical zones of the province, with clearly differing land and olive varieties. In the north of Málaga the hojiblanca olive is king, being highly resistant to the cold that prevails here in Winter; in the Axarquía region it is the verdial olive that takes centre stage. This variety takes its name from the intense green (in Spanish, verde) colour of the olive, which it keeps even when fully ripe. Finally, there is the aloreña variety, native to the Guadalhorce Valley and protected by the only denomination of origin that exists in Spain. It is eaten as a table olive, and appears in numerous different marinades.
