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FOOD AND DRINK

Granada’s mayor stirs debate by calling for end of free tapas

Bars in the Andalusian city are famed for offering generous free servings of food with most drink orders, but Granada’s mayor has caused concern among locals after suggesting customers “should pay for tapas”.  

Published: 12 April 2022 11:16 CEST
Granada's mayor stirs debate by calling for end of free tapas
Could Granada's free tapas traditions soon be coming to an end? Photo: Hiki Liu/Unsplash

Anyone who’s been to the enthralling city of Granada will no doubt have experienced its unique bar scene, where huge, often high-quality tapas are dished up at no extra cost with every round of cañas (small beers) or wine that is ordered. 

All over Spain, you’re likely to be offered some nuts, olives or crisps to accompany your drinks, but this generosity is taken to another level in Graná, an allure which keeps customers ordering.

So it’s no surprise that among Spaniards, Granada is as synonymous with La Alhambra as with its tapas gratis (free tapas).

But this tradition may now be under threat after the mayor of the city of Granada Paco Cuenca recently said his government “will never again promote free tapas”. 

“Tapas have to be paid for because they are haute cuisine,” Cuenca said during the Saborea Sin Prisa Granada (Take your time tasting Granada) gastronomic contest.

Granada’s mayor admitted his administration had deliberately omitted the word “tapas” from the competition’s name in a bid to move away from the association the city has with free food.

Granada’s tapas tradition dates back to the early 1900s when local bar owners would take an ad out in the newspaper to promote their free “tapadera” of salchichón meat or snails with their wine or coffee. Source: National Library of Spain

“We want people to sit down at the table and enjoy small bites of food à la carte which they pay for, this is what is profitable and creates stable work,” Cuenca said to contestants. 

“We have unique food products, magnificent establishments and professionals. We have to believe in what we have and position ourselves where we deserve”.

Neither the city of Granada nor the whole province which goes by the same name have a single Michelin-starred restaurant.

READ ALSO: Six great reasons to visit Granada (besides the Alhambra)

Cuenca’s comments have stirred debate among granadinos over whether Granada is selling itself short by focusing more on quantity over quality and not promoting itself as a high-end gastronomic destination. 

Some say the free-food-with-drink model is ingrained in the local lifestyle and offers people a cheap option to eat out, whilst voices in the hospitality sector argue that rising food costs and inflation mean the model is no longer as sustainable. 

Then there are those that point out that it’s perfectly possible for haute cuisine and free tapas to co-exist in the city – as is currently the case – whilst finding ways for Granada to be seen as a more exclusive gastronomic destination. 

With the debate still raging, Cuenca has since sought to clarify that he meant that “Granada is much more than its tapas”, but his detractors say “there is no Granada without free tapas”.

What seems clear is that there will be no municipal bylaw which outright bans one of Granada’s biggest attractions, but rather a push to be recognised as more than just a land of cheap eats; and instead a gastronomic hub that knows its own worth.

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CLIMATE CRISIS

‘Extreme’ climate blamed for world’s worst wine harvest in 62 years

World wine production dropped 10 percent last year, the biggest fall in more than six decades, because of "extreme" climate changes, the body that monitors the trade said on Thursday.

Published: 26 April 2024 08:48 CEST
'Extreme' climate blamed for world's worst wine harvest in 62 years

“Extreme environmental conditions” including droughts, fires and other problems with climate were mostly to blame for the drastic fall, said the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) that covers nearly 50 wine producing countries.

Australia and Italy suffered the worst, with 26 and 23 percent drops. Spain lost more than a fifth of its production. Harvests in Chile and South Africa were down by more than 10 percent.

The OIV said the global grape harvest was the worst since 1961, and worse even than its early estimates in November.

In further bad news for winemakers, customers drank three per cent less wine in 2023, the French-based intergovernmental body said.

Director John Barker highlighted “drought, extreme heat and fires, as well as heavy rain causing flooding and fungal diseases across major northern and southern hemisphere wine producing regions.”

Although he said climate problems were not solely to blame for the drastic fall, “the most important challenge that the sector faces is climate change.

“We know that the grapevine, as a long-lived plant cultivated in often vulnerable areas, is strongly affected by climate change,” he added.

France bucked the falling harvest trend, with a four percent rise, making it by far the world’s biggest wine producer.

Wine consumption last year was however at its lowest level since 1996, confirming a fall-off over the last five years, according to the figures.

The trend is partly due to price rises caused by inflation and a sharp fall in wine drinking in China – down a quarter – due to its economic slowdown.

The Portuguese, French and Italians remain the world’s biggest wine drinkers per capita.

Barker said the underlying decrease in consumption is being “driven by demographic and lifestyle changes. But given the very complicated influences on global demand at the moment,” it is difficult to know whether the fall will continue.

“What is clear is that inflation is the dominant factor affecting demand in 2023,” he said.

Land given over to growing grapes to eat or for wine fell for the third consecutive year to 7.2 million hectares (17.7 million acres).

But India became one of the global top 10 grape producers for the first time with a three percent rise in the size of its vineyards.

France, however, has been pruning its vineyards back slightly, with its government paying winemakers to pull up vines or to distil their grapes.

The collapse of the Italian harvest to its lowest level since 1950 does not necessarily mean there will be a similar contraction there, said Barker.

Between floods and hailstones, and damp weather causing mildew in the centre and south of the country, the fall was “clearly linked to meteorological conditions”, he said.

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