Experts have warned that it is likely that supply chains of some crops on the Spanish farmland deluged by the floods, such as citrus fruit, rice and tomatoes, will be disrupted for months.
Farmers’ groups in Spain cautioned that it was too early to know exactly what the economic damage could be from a disaster that has left at least 205 people dead.
Spain is the world’s largest exporter of fresh and dried oranges and Valencia accounts for 60 per cent of the country’s citrus production, according to the region’s Institute of Agriculture Investigations.
Britain imports more fresh fruit and vegetables from Spain than any other country. A severe drought in southern regions of Spain two years ago led to shortages of salad, tomatoes and broccoli in British shops.
The Valencia region, which was hit badly by the floods, is the heart of Spain’s citrus and rice growing, and there are also fears for its tomato crops.
Last year, Spain exported oranges, lemons and other citrus fruit worth €303m (about £254m) to the UK, according to Spanish government figures.
The Association of Agricultural Empresarios, one of Spain’s largest farmer groups, said it expected significant damage to crops.
Ricardo Bayo, the secretary general of the Union of Small Farmers in Valencia who runs an orange farm, said it was still not clear what the impact would be on this year’s crop.
A spokesperson for the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said: “The floods in Spain are devastating and the humanitarian effort must take priority.
“There is no risk to overall UK food security as a result of the flooding however we are assessing the potential impact on individual product lines, and are ready to support industry should any food supply chain issues occur.”
While the food industry is best placed to deal with any disruption to the food supply chain as they have the capabilities, levers and expertise to do so, the Government is ready to support an industry-led response as needed, a source said.
The UK produces 62 per cent of all the food it needs, and 75 per cent of food which it can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year. The UK regards Spain as a key trading partner on fresh fruit and vegetables.
Tafadzwa Mabhaudhi, professor of climate change, food systems and health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: “The farmland has been devastated, which means the crops have been destroyed.
“The UK imports from various places… what it does mean in the short term, and the medium term, is there is going to be a gap in terms of the supply, because you’re taking one production variant out of the supply. Normally what that does in terms of the supply side is it affects prices.
“The floods have been devastating. Farmlands are submerged under water. For fruit trees and stuff like that, they may survive, but there will be at least one season cycle where you’re going to lose production.
“We don’t know how long it will take farmers to get the land back into production and be able to recover. So then you look at at least two seasons where the supply from Spain is still going to be disrupted.”
The disaster should focus government minds on tackling climate change, Professor Mabhaudhi added.
He added: “The UK has to think about what climate change means in terms of its food supply, because a lot of places where we source our food from are under the threat of climate change – either floods as we’re seeing in Spain or drought, which we’re seeing in other places.
“That is going to continuously impact the UK as an importer if the source areas are under threat. So as a long term strategy the UK has to also think about its future in terms of where it is sourcing its food and the climate risk those areas are facing.”
Dr Umair Choksy, senior lecturer in management at the University of Stirling Management School, said: “The severe flooding in Spain could lead to shortages of many products to the UK as Spain is one of the largest exporters of fruits and vegetables to the UK.
“One example of crops grown in the southern eastern part of Spain are tomatoes. While the UK’s dependency on Spain has decreased over the last few decades for tomatoes, Spain remains the third largest exporter of tomatoes to the UK behind Netherlands and Morocco.
“Any shortages in the UK due to the Spanish floods are unlikely to be immediate. It will take time to fully assess the extent of the damage to crops and infrastructure.
“However, the impact on the UK is likely to be most noticeable in the coming months, as the effects on Spain’s harvests and supply chains unfold.
“The disruption could be more prolonged if the damage to infrastructure is severe and repair times are lengthy. Given the compounding effect of the drought followed by heavy rains, the impact may be felt in the longer term beyond the immediate post-flood period.
“The recent catastrophic floods in Spain are not only causing immediate devastation but also pose a serious threat to food security across Europe and could lead to supply shortages in the UK in the coming months, most likely affecting products like tomatoes.
“This event underscores the urgent need for increased resilience in our food systems in the face of increasingly frequent and intense extreme weather linked to climate change.”
Authorities in Spain were clearing flooded farms, destroyed homes and search teams scoured fields to find missing people.
“Even though it is early to say with any certainty the damage that the flooding will have, it is true that there is a large number of hectares affected,” Mr Bayo said.
“In the areas affected by the flooding [the damage] is very high. But many other areas were unaffected.”
Mr Bayo, whose farm produces oranges which are exported to the European Union and the UK, said his own farm had been hit by the downpour.
“The intensive rain has flooded many areas of my farm but I have been pretty lucky compared to others,” he said.
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