Jaén province produces around half of Spain’s olive oil and roughly 20% of the world’s total, more than the entire country of Italy. The numbers behind it: 66 million olive trees across 550,000 hectares, yielding around 600,000 tons in a good year.
Locals call the landscape the Mar de Olivos, the sea of olive trees. Drive in any direction from the city and it stretches to the horizon, unbroken, for kilometres.
Read on for more, or skip ahead to our guide to things to do in Jaén.
The Picual Variety
Around 95% of Jaén’s olive trees are Picual, a variety that produces an intensely flavoured oil with a notably long shelf life. It has been cultivated here since Roman times.
Some of the trees are over 1,000 years old.
You’ll find smaller plantings of Royal and Arbequina, though they’re rare by comparison. Three protected designations of origin cover the province’s output: Sierra de Segura, Sierra de Cazorla, and Sierra Mágina.
For decades, the region sold most of its oil in bulk to Italian and Spanish brands who bottled it under their own labels. That’s changing, and it’s one of the things Jaén is increasingly known for, but prices at the source remain far lower than almost anywhere else in Europe.
Is It Worth Buying Olive Oil in Spain?
Yes, particularly in Jaén. I pulled over at a small kiosk at an old olive oil factory on the way to Baeza and came away with a bottle that was genuinely excellent, about half what I’d pay elsewhere.
The brand was literally called Picualia.
If you see a roadside factory, stop. Harvest season runs from October to February, and visiting a working mill during that window to taste fresh-pressed oil is one of the area’s best experiences.
Fresh-pressed oil tastes completely different from supermarket bottles. Several of the best mills are in the surrounding countryside, easily visited as day trips from Jaén.
For a more structured tasting, oleotourism companies in the province run mill tours in English. Jaén’s food culture goes beyond the groves, and the free tapas tradition is worth knowing about before you visit.
Can You Bring Olives Back from Spain?
Yes. There are no restrictions on bringing olive oil or olives back to the UK or most EU countries in personal luggage.
For the US, olive oil is permitted in checked baggage without limits. Carry-on is subject to the usual liquid restrictions.
