Penedès hit by massive hailstorm

The Penedès wine region in the province of Barcelona was hit with a severe hailstorm last weekend that caused millions of Euros of damage to vineyards within a short period of time.

Hail fell intensely across several regions destroying as much as 70% of grapes which were growing on the vines, across a total areas of around 1,500 hectares.

One user on X (formerly Twitter) reported the intense conditions from Sant Pere de Riudebitlles, a municipality in the comarca of Alt Penedès, on Saturday night.

Així es veia des de Sant Pere de Riudebitlles l’entrada de la tempesta que ha afectat aquí al Alt Penedès a les 20:50h. Es veu descarregant amb força direcció a Sant Quintí de Mediona. Pluja intensa amb calamarsa.@alexmegapc @btveltemps @comandotibidabo @MeteoElpito pic.twitter.com/bf2ZpOvYGa

— Silvia Caro (@carogsilvia) June 1, 2024

Struck hard

Many of the Baix and Alt Penedès areas were hit, but the situation was at its worst in the Santa Margarida i els Monjos municipality, as well as in the Castellet i la Gornal region, in the valley of the Foix river. In addition, the Font-rubí – Sant Martí Sarroca was struck hard by the extreme weather.

According to the local farmers union, losses could be as high as seven thousand tonnes of grapes and overall damage in excess of €5m (£4.25m).

Fortunately, grape growing areas to the east of Penedès weren’t hit as hard.

Drought

It comes as the wider Catalonian area has struggled in recent years with a lack of rain and on-going drought conditions.

Among the wine producers to have been hit by these harsh climatic conditions is Familia Torres. The family-run producer works over approximately 1,300 hectares across the country, but DO Penedès is very much where its operations are centred.

"创新与知识总监米雷娅-托雷斯（Mireia Torres）解释说："佩内德斯传统上是一个干旱的农业区，葡萄栽培的唯一水源是雨水。"在我们地区，由于来自地中海的暴风雨减弱了从内陆来的降雨量，因此春秋两季往往会出现暴雨。不幸的是，近年来，这些来自地中海的降水并没有出现，导致了我们这次的极端干旱"。

情况越来越糟。

极端

"当前的干旱期始于 2021 年，"托雷斯分享道。"这是有历史记录以来最极端的干旱。从那时起，降雨量一年比一年少。佩内德斯的历史平均降雨量为 544 毫米。2020 年是多雨的一年，降雨量达 640 毫米（主要集中在春季），但随后干旱就开始了：2021 年为 417 毫米，2022 年为 373 毫米，2023 年为 246 毫米"。

"佩内德斯是加泰罗尼亚受影响最严重的地区之一。"2023 年，该地区的年降雨量比历史平均水平低 54%，比前一年低 34%。这导致葡萄产量和活力下降，但真正令人担忧的是，我们开始看到一些植物无法承受缺水而死亡。