Barcelona Espigola

3.300 orange trees

In the city of Barcelona has

1,5%

of the trees are orange trees

#BarcelonaEspigola is a project to give these bitter oranges a second life and turn them into marmalade. After the success of the pilot started in the Sant Andreu district in 2021, where 35% of all the city’s orange trees are located, the Barcelona City Council decided to expand this initiative to other districts.

This initiative is managed by Parks and Gardena in conjunction with the districts, with the coordination of the Fundació Espigoladors, and it contributes to a healthier and more sustainable city while encouraging food reuse.

The Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB) ensures the quality of the raw oranges and the marmalade and guarantees a premium quality end product with #BarcelonaEspigola.

2024 campaign

On 2-5 February, the streets in six of the city’s districts were harvested for the third year in a row with the goal of promoting food reuse. The action was carried out in the districts of Gràcia, Les Corts, Sant Martí, Ciutat Vella and Sant Andreu, which were joined this year by L’Eixample. More than 600 volunteers from organisations and residents of the districts participated in harvesting the bitter oranges.

The project also included communication and awareness-raising actions beyond the harvesters. Workshops were held for both the participating organisations and schools and other groups in each of the six districts. A total of 16 organisations were involved in the activities, with more than 400 people taking part. The workshops provided an opportunity to debate the problem of food waste and share initiatives for food reuse, best consumption practices and reflections on the right to access healthy, sustainable food.

The oranges collected were processed and transformed into bitter orange marmalade at a public kitchen. This 100% natural artisan marmalade called La Marga aims to fight food waste and promote a circular economy model. This year, 12,400 jars of marmalade were made and distributed to neighbourhood organisations and groups that attend to people suffering from food poverty or who are in other situations of social exclusion or vulnerability.