Watermelon growers in the south-eastern Spanish region of Murcia are struggling with an abundant crop and disastrously low prices.

Alfonso Gálvez Caravaca, secretary general of Asaja Murcia, said: “Excess production, brought on by a rise in temperatures, has put paid to the watermelon campaign. We have seen farm-gate prices suffer a drastic descent to as little as €0.18 (15p) a kilo: less than half the figure required to make the crop profitable.”

Producers have engaged in publicity stunts in their region to draw attention to their plight by selling fruit directly to the public at the prices they are paid in Murcia city centre. They have also parked a produce-laden truck in a supermarket car park to give their fruit away to shoppers to draw attention to inflated retail prices. They are now calling on the government to act.

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