The counselor of Agriculture, Fishing, Water, and Rural Development, Ramón Fernández-Pacheco, reiterated this Tuesday the interest of the Junta de Andalucía in that, "hopefully" Deoleo, a company in the food sector dedicated to the marketing of olive oil and currently immersed in a sales process, "stays in Spanish hands first and, if possible, in Andalusian hands."
The regional official expressed himself this way in a media briefing prior to the meeting of the Fishing and Aquaculture Interlocution Table. His words come after Izquierda Unida (IU) registered an initiative in the Lower House for the Government to detail in writing its position regarding a possible purchase of Deoleo by a foreign group or an investment fund.
In this scenario, Fernández-Pacheco emphasized that the Andalusian Government assumes that "we cannot intervene in a commercial process between private companies." Despite this limitation, and in light of the potential interest from foreign capital, he insisted on the Junta's preference for the company to maintain a national shareholding and, if possible, Andalusian. At the same time, he stressed that "we are very clear that we want both the production and the marketing of olive oil to continue being in Andalusia."
To conclude, the counselor has highlighted the weight of the olive sector in the community, recalling that "Andalusia is oil" and emphasizing that "the olive grove is the most representative crop of this land." Likewise, he pointed out that there are "many families who live from the production of olives and olive oil in Andalusia."