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Farmers report ’catastrophic’ damage to crops as Storm Marta hits Spain and Portugal
| USA | economy

Farmers report ’catastrophic’ damage to crops as Storm Marta hits Spain and Portugal

#Storm Marta #Spain #Portugal #Crop damage #Iberian Peninsula #Extreme weather #Agricultural crisis

📌 Key Takeaways

  • Storm Marta caused widespread destruction of olive, citrus, and cereal crops across Spain and Portugal.
  • Agricultural unions have labeled the damage 'catastrophic' with some farmers losing entire seasonal yields.
  • Infrastructure such as greenhouses and irrigation systems were destroyed by hurricane-force winds and flooding.
  • The Spanish and Portuguese governments are preparing emergency financial aid packages for the rural sector.

📖 Full Retelling

Agricultural unions and local authorities in Spain and Portugal reported catastrophic damage to vital crop sectors on Thursday after Storm Marta swept across the Iberian Peninsula, bringing record-breaking rainfall and hurricane-force winds. The storm, which intensified late Wednesday night, ravaged thousands of hectares of olive groves, citrus orchards, and cereal fields, triggering an emergency response from regional governments. Farmers are facing total losses in some districts where the extreme weather event uprooted trees and flooded irrigation systems, arriving at a critical moment in the seasonal harvest cycle for many Mediterranean products. In Spain, the regions of Andalusia and Extremadura were hardest hit, with the COAG farmers' association describing the destruction as an unprecedented blow to the rural economy. Local meteorological agencies recorded wind speeds exceeding 120 kilometers per hour, which physically stripped fruit from trees and destroyed greenhouse structures. In Portugal, the Alentejo region suffered significant infrastructure damage, as swollen rivers burst their banks, submerging equipment and making many agricultural roads impassable for transport vehicles. Initial estimates suggest that the economic fallout could reach hundreds of millions of euros, though a full assessment is currently hindered by ongoing rainfall. Government officials from both Madrid and Lisbon have pledged to activate emergency relief funds to support the affected rural communities. The disaster comes as a major setback to the European agricultural market, which was already grappling with fluctuating prices and previous periods of drought. As weather conditions begin to stabilize, insurance adjusters and technical experts are being deployed to the fields to quantify the exact scale of the loss, while labor unions warn that the damage could lead to temporary supply shortages and price hikes for consumers across the continent.

🐦 Character Reactions (Tweets)

Olive Oil Enthusiast

Storm Marta just gave my olive oil collection a 'natural' flavor profile. Who needs terroir when you've got hurricane-force winds? #OliveOilOfDestruction

Citrus Sour

Portugal's oranges are now officially 'wind-tossed' and 'storm-kissed.' Coming soon to a grocery store near you at 3x the price! #FruitOfTheStorm

Farmers' Ally

When life gives you lemons, the storm takes them away. Farmers in Spain and Portugal are not having a great harvest season. #StormMartaStrikesAgain

Weather Worrier

Storm Marta: turning olive groves into modern art installations and citrus orchards into abstract sculptures. #ArtOfDestruction

💬 Character Dialogue

character_1: The storm's wrath is a mere echo of the rot that plagues the lands. My brother and I have faced worse, and yet, we stand unbroken.
character_2: Beep boop bleep bop! (Translation: 'Another day, another natural disaster. At least the farmers can blame the weather instead of their terrible life choices.')
character_3: Winter is coming, but I didn't expect it to bring such chaos to the fields. What do I know about farming, anyway?
character_1: The will to endure is what separates the strong from the weak. These farmers must find their inner strength, as I have.
character_2: Bleep bloop beep! (Translation: 'Inner strength? More like inner insurance policies.')

🏷️ Themes

Agriculture, Economy, Natural Disasters

📚 Related People & Topics

Crop

Crop

Plant product which can be grown and harvested

A crop is a plant or plant product harvested for human use. Crops are cultivated at scale to produce food, fiber, fuel, and other products. Crops have been central to human civilization since the first agricultural revolution, a key stage in the broader history of agriculture, when early societies d...

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Spain

Spain

Country in Southern and Western Europe

Spain, officially the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Europe and the fourth-most populous European Union (EU) member state. Spanning the major...

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Portugal

Portugal

Country in Southwestern Europe

Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. It is a unitary republic made up by mainland Portugal and two autonomous regions, with Lisbon as both its capital and largest city. The mainland is bordered by Spain to the north and east, wit...

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Iberian Peninsula

Iberian Peninsula

Peninsula in southwestern Europe

The Iberian Peninsula (IPA: eye-BEER-ee-ən), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of Peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprising most of the region, as well as And...

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📄 Original Source Content
try{ var _=i o; . if(!_||_&&typeof _==="object"&&_.expiry As Claude disrupts stock market, Anthropic researcher warns ’world is in peril’ Gold, silver prices rise amid U.S.-Iran tensions, blowout January payrolls data Dow halts three-day win streak as blowout jobs data curbs rate cut bets Citi pushes back Fed rate cuts to May after blowout January jobs report (South Africa Philippines Nigeria) Farmers report ’catastrophic’ damage to crops as Storm Marta hits Spain and Portugal World Published 02/07/2026, 09:13 AM Updated 02/07/2026, 09:18 AM Farmers report ’catastrophic’ damage to crops as Storm Marta hits Spain and Portugal 0 By Guillermo Martinez and Jon Nazca CORDOBA, Feb 7 - Farmers in Spain warned on Saturday that torrential rains and high winds had left fields submerged and caused millions of euros worth of damage to crops, as Spain and Portugal braced for more extreme weather. The Iberian Peninsula has already experienced a succession of storms in recent weeks, bringing heavy rain, thunder, snow and strong gales ahead of the arrival of Storm Marta on Saturday. More than 11,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Spain’s southern Andalusia region, while nearly 170 roads have been closed across Spain and rail services have been disrupted in Portugal. Spanish state weather agency AEMET warned on Saturday that Storm Marta would bring snow and hazardous coastal conditions, as well as more rain. Authorities issued an orange weather warning, the second highest after red. Miguel Angel Perez, of the farmers organisation COAG in Andalusia’s Cadiz province, told Spanish television TVE on Saturday: "It is raining without stopping. Crops like broccoli, carrots and cauliflowers are under water. Thousands of hectares inundated. We have a real natural catastrophe." Perez said the storm had caused millions of euros of damage to this year’s crop and farmers would seek government help to recover. GROUND TREMBLING, RIVER RISING Waterlogging has also raised fears of s...

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