It´s not only the flowering lavender fields in Spain that bring visitors flocking for the perfect purple blossom photos but the small town of Aitona in inland Catalunya has pink fields of flowering fruit trees that attract many tourists.
It´s not cherry blossom, although many Japanese tourists come, it´s to the flowering fields of peach blossom that people head to in March time. The autumn colours when the leaves change are quite a spectacle too.
The fairly new tourism initiative Fruiturisme has given the little town a real lease of life, with more visitors every year. Looking on a map it´s pretty much midway between Zaragoza and Barcelona and a two hour plus drive to Andorra.
Aitona´s new popularity has produced new businesses, but has other claims to fame too. There is a picnic area made from stones discarded (because of deterioration) from the Sagrada Familia – why take them so far from Barcelona? But a good dinner party story to retell about your picnic location maybe.
The town is being repopulated and businessess are emerging and reappearing thanks to irrigation systems that have enabled the farmers to start growing fruit trees in an area that was once pretty barren.
Pink Flowering Fields
These days the weekends in March see more and more coaches bringing visitors to the pink flowering fields of Aitona. An expanse of around 3,500 hectares of stone fruit trees, including peaches, flat peaches and nectarines. At harvest time between 2,000 and 2,500 workers pick about 90 million kilos of fruit most of which is exported, the majority to Europe.
Routes Around the Fields in Bloom
Coach tours and free tours are the most popular routes. There are visits on foot mapped out and cycling routes too but the most spectacular of all types of seeing the fields in bloom has to be a balloon flight over that enormous sea of flowering pink blossom.
Photos @Fruiturisme