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CORCHO ANDALUZ (ANDALUCIAN CORK)
Cork is the natural product derived from the Cork Oak tree (Spanish Alcornoque and quercus suber in Latin). It is the only material that has natural elasticity, is impermeable and has adhesive qualities. Although cork has many uses, it is used primarily, as we all know, to store wines in bottles. Its special qualities protect wine by hermetically sealing the bottle, preventing oxygen or any other flavours to alter and possibly ruin the contents. There are different qualities of cork but only the best is used for wine bottles.
Cork Oaks from which cork is harvested, are only found in the Western Mediterranean, principally on the Iberian Peninsular, although some are also found in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, France, Italy and Turkey. The world’s cork industry is located fundamentally in Spain and Portugal, with Andalucía boasting the largest area of cork oak forest in the world. There are some 240,000 hectares of cork oaks in the region, (49% of the total found in Spain) primarily located in “Parque Natural de los Arconocales” (Natural Park of Cork Oaks), which has around 170,025 hectares of forest alone. The rest of the Spanish cork oak forests are found mainly in Extremadura and Cataluña.
Due to the size of its forests, Andalucía produces approximately 35,000 tones of cork annually, representing over half (56%) of the total cork harvest of Spain, whilst Extremadura and Cataluña produce just 40% between them. Despite the huge cork production, Andalucía only actually manufactures 16% of the raw material whilst the other regions take the lion’s share by manufacturing 80% (Cataluña alone manufactures 58% of the local cork harvest). Manufacturing is where the real value of the cork lies. Therefore, despite being the major contributor of the natural produce, Andalucía has lower employment and income from its major natural resource than would be expected.
On 3rd February 2000, the Provincial Councils of Cádiz, Huelva and Seville, together with other town councils and environmental agencies, formed a new foundation. “La Fundación Andaluza del Alcornoque y el Corcho”. It has been formed to promote and develop the Andalucian Cork Industry, to increase commercial value and potential, whilst protecting the rich environment created by the cork oak forests.