More than 60 per cent of fruit producers in Spain's Murcia region are reported to have been affected by heavy hailstone storms that hit the south-east of the country over recent days.
Table grape growers are understood to be among the most impacted by the downpours, with one leading producer organisation estimating that over 30 per cent of the region's grape sector has suffered 'serious' damage to their crops.
In a statement, Alfonso Gálvez Caravaca, of regional association Asaja Murcia, said that producers of fruit, vegetables and table grapes in the Murcian provinces of Jumilla, Valle del Guadalentín and Altiplano had been particularly hard hit by the inclement weather.
He said: 'We are still carrying out evaluations of the damaged production, but it is clear that the damage has been horrible and disastrous, and for that reason we will have to wait to see the final evaluation of all the damage.'
However, according to Asaja Murcia’s preliminary evaluations of the hailstone damage, more than 60 per cent of producers in the region have sustained 'serious' damage to their crops, a figure which rose to 80 per cent in the province of Jumilla.
