The Association of Beekeepers of Ibiza presented at the rural hotel Can Lluc yesterday the inclusion of honey produced on the island in the catalogue of traditional foods of the Balearic Islands. This initiative, which already recognises a local production rooted in history, is the first step towards obtaining a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), the main objective that the guild has set itself.
The president of the Beekeepers Association, Vicent Marí. Toni Escobar.
Spain currently has six PDOs (Campoo-Los Valles, Granada, la Alcarria, Liébana, Tenerife and Villuercas-Ibores), as well as a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) for Galician honey. At the start of the preliminary work, the association’s president, Vicent Marí, was considering applying for any of these labels from the European Commission.
A moment at the presentation at Can Lluc. Toni Escobar.
Finally, after evaluating the analyses of the two 2020 harvests, spring and autumn, Marí is clear that we must opt for a PDO, unlike the oil from Ibiza, which has a PGI. “This way we will be able to cover more types of honey, because otherwise all production would have to conform to the same parameters and we would close doors,” he points out.
Unique product
Last year in Ibiza, analyses recognised some unique products not found anywhere else in the world, such as carob tree honey, with 81.3% pollen from this flower. Other differentiated monofloral productions on the island, in which a single species predominates, including frígola de Sant Joan, trèvol groc and sepell.
As for multi-flower honey, Ibiza’s honey is characterised by the simultaneous presence of at least llengua de bou, steppes and trèvol groc. In addition, all of them stand out for their physico-chemical characteristics “that make them unique”. “Honey does not expire, like salt or sugar, but it loses its organoleptic properties. “The honey from Ibiza is harvested and consumed immediately, so it does not lose these values”, he specifies.
Once included in the catalogue of traditional foods from the Balearic Islands, Marí is confident that “if the paperwork doesn’t get twisted along the way”, Ibiza honey could obtain the PDO seal from the European Commission before next summer. This would acknowledge a historical link with beekeeping that goes back to the time of the megalithic tomb of Ca na Costa (1,600 BC) and which is mentioned in the ‘DOP’ of Ibiza.C) and which is mentioned in ‘De bello Maioricano o Liber maiorichinus de gestis pisanorum illustribus’, dated around 1125 and which narrates the Pisan-Catalan crusade to conquer Ibiza: ‘Rocky mountains encircle the whole countryside, from its soil sprout innumerable pastures and also fruits, honey in sufficient quantity, and from the springs flow streams of fresh water. Its land produces much barley and also fertile vineyards”.