Calçot is almost a religion in Camp de Tarragona, with its best temples in Valls and the entire Alt Camp region. The devotion that its people feel for calçotades is so great that the stoppage due to the pandemic is still bitterly remembered. Nothing is worse for a party that lives off of crowds than restrictions on gatherings around a table. Neither before the covid nor now the historic drought (three years with hardly any rain) have been able to with the calçot and the calçotada.
"There is a lot of desire to eat calçots, the restaurants have already started with calçotades and Mercabarna is already asking for calçots", emphasizes Dalmaci Clofent, president of the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) Calçot de Valls. The organization has been fighting to preserve the quality of the product and promote calçotada inside and outside the Camp de Tarragona since 28 years ago.
It is expected to exceed 18.5 million calçots sold in a campaign that begins now and will end if all goes well in April. The historical record is 20 million units, a milestone that, if the drought allows, could even be surpassed this year.
Wells and water reserves are scarce, swamps are low and drinking water is prioritized. Luckily, calçot has its epicenter in an area, with Valls as the capital, that reuses wastewater treatment plant water.
By balancing water, with much more irrigation due to the lack of rain, all the hectares of the IGP Calçot de Valls have been planted. A complete success in a context of historic drought. Calçot also needs a lot of water.
The irrigation community of Valls takes advantage of the reused water from the municipal treatment plant, vital in such a difficult time. At the recently held annual meeting of the IGP, the importance of continuing to introduce drop-by-drop irrigation was discussed. “It represents more than 30% water savings compared to sprinkler irrigation,” highlights Clofent. 60% of the calçots fields are still irrigated by sprinklers. “The change cannot be made suddenly, we need a little more time and help from the administrations,” warns the president of the IGP.
Despite the drought, compensated by irrigation water, the quality of the calçot is “excellent.” The arrival of the cold and the intense wind, common in the region, have contained the appearance of fungi and other diseases.
There are more than half a hundred producers accredited to sell calçot with the prized IGP Calçot de Valls label in four different regions: Alt and Baix Camp, Tarragonès and Baix Penedès (82 towns). In addition to the 18.5 million IGP, a few million more shorts will be sold throughout Catalonia and abroad until next spring.
“It has to be the consolidation campaign, we are very hopeful, all the available lands have been planted (150 hectares). There is no place in the world where you don't like to have a good time and calçot and calçotada means having a good time,” Clofent adds.
