Practically two years later, the green gold of Mogán has recovered its throne in Arguineguín. The sixth Avocado Fair was held this Sunday, December 5, in the tent in Plaza Pérez Galdós with great success after selling more than 4.000 kilos of specimens brought by the farmers of the municipality. This edition, with capacity control due to the pandemic, has attracted attendees from all corners of Gran Canaria, counting up to 5.000 between 10:00 and 14:00 p.m. Other seasonal fruits and vegetables grown in Mogán, processed products and local crafts were also offered at the event.
The authentic avocado festival was held in the 1.160 square meters of the permanent tent. The 15 participating farmers from Mogán – some associated in a single stand – boasted of the excellent quality of the fruit whose cultivation exceeds 20 hectares in the Mogán municipal area. With a sale price starting at 5 euros per kilo, the Fuerte, Pinkerton, Orotava and Guatemalan hybrid varieties predominated.
But the stalls not only displayed the different shades of green of the precious avocados, since mangoes (three tons), oranges (two tons), mandarins, pomegranates, papayas, guavas, peppers, bananas, passion fruit were also on sale. , tropical pineapple, pitayas, pumpkin and even avocado trees.
This year the Fair has adapted to the current circumstances of the health crisis, so a single route was established within the venue with access control, so that the circulation of people inside the tent was orderly and fluid, and was also The use of a mask is mandatory at all times.
The mayor of Mogán, Onalia Bueno, pointed out that due to capacity control “people have come to the Fair much earlier, even before the official opening hours. Already at 9:00 a.m. there was a movement of people and that means that this type of event continues to be a success and not only among the population residing on the island but also among tourists in the area, who have come here today." .
For Bueno, the avocado has undoubtedly been the star of the day. “It is one of the star products of the municipality of Mogán and also very popular during the upcoming Christmas season,” he said. He also assured that farmers were looking forward to the return of this Fair and congratulated the organization for making its celebration possible again.
For his part, the Councilor for Rural Development, Ernesto Hernández, highlighted the success of attendance of this sixth edition of the Mogán Avocado Fair. “We had some uncertainty after almost two years of hiatus and the pandemic, but we have seen a very great acceptance from the first hour, and even that some stalls were very advanced in selling their entire production from early on.”
“The Mogán avocado is our hallmark in the agricultural sector and is once again an important attraction for the public at this Fair, but we must also highlight all the offerings from our Mogán primary sector that met today in Arguineguín, especially all from crops that are now in season,” he stated. For the mayor, all of this, together with the area of processed products and crafts, "forms a very appetizing dish and a showcase to publicize everything that is produced in Mogán, but not only at a promotional level but also as recognition of the work that is done." the people of the countryside day by day.”
Both the mayor and Hernández thanked the support and collaboration of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, represented at the Fair by Pedro Suárez, advisor to the Minister of Primary Sector and Food Sovereignty. Also to Cajasiete, the latter represented by Federico Hernández, director of the Arguineguín office. Both were presented with a commemorative plaque.
Councilor Hernández distributed a recognition of similar characteristics to each of the participating farmers, producers and artisans, and that is that in this sixth Mogán Avocado Fair there were also stalls selling cheeses, breads, sweets, honey, jams, oil, olives, Gran Canaria designation of origin wine and artisanal cider. There are also craft stands with goat horns, pearls, jewelry, toys, etc. However, as the councilor explained in the presentation of the event a few days ago, a gastronomic area was not enabled due to the complexity that this would entail to comply with security measures against COVID-19.
In this edition of the Mogán Avocado Fair, the association of organizations of producers of avocados, mangoes and more products tropical Gran Canaria, Tamaragua, as well as a FRUTTMAT stand, a comprehensive project to improve the bases of sustainable development of tropical fruit farms in Macaronesia, and more specifically the branch that works for the conservation of the plant genetic resources of Antillean avocados. This is a Cabildo project developed within the framework of the INTERREG MAC Cooperation Program 2014-2020, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). In addition, Lopesan, once again present with a stand in the farmers' area, will donate the proceeds raised today to food aid from Mogán Social Services.
The Councilor for Health, Juan Carlos Ortega, the Councilor for Fisheries, Víctor Gutiérrez, and the Councilor for Heritage, Consuelo Díaz, also attended the Fair.