Unións Agrarias (UU.AA.) foresees that the next harvest campaign will again be a "record," with estimates suggesting that more than 80 million kilos of grapes could be collected and "of unbeatable quality." At the same time, the agricultural organization demands that "fair" prices be guaranteed for the winemakers and that the administrations intensify controls and supervisory actions.
This was stated this Friday at a press conference by the head of Agriculture of UU.AA., Carlos Basalo, and the deputy secretary general, Félix Porto. Both detailed that the 2026 harvest will be earlier than in previous campaigns due to weather conditions. "Never has the harvest been so early," emphasized Basalo, who also highlighted that, along with this advance in the calendar, a volume of collected grapes greater than that of 2025 is expected.
The organization's forecasts involve exceeding 80 million kilos and recording increases in the five designations of origin in Galicia. However, UU.AA. spokespersons have expressed their concern because, according to their calculations, in the best-case scenario, prices "will remain" and even may "drop" in the Rías Baixas designation.
Given the lack of a detailed study of production costs and the risk that they will not be covered, UU.AA. has focused on the responsibility of the administrations and the need to strengthen oversight of grape purchase operations.
In particular, they have pointed out the importance of the Agency for Food Information and Control (AICA) and the Consellería do Medio Rural to address possible violations of the Food Chain Law. They have also reiterated already known requests, such as the implementation "once and for all" of the price observatory committed by the Galician Government and the elimination of public aid to those industries sanctioned or with open files for paying below production costs.