Spanish police have caught thieves “red-handed picking up olives” in the Seville area.
The olive harvest season has not yet begun, but Spanish authorities are already mobilised to combat thefts. The police in Andalusia this week prevented the theft of 465kg of olives near the town of Albaida del Aljarafe, they said on Monday 2 September in a statement, relayed by the Guardian.
According to the same source, members of the Civil Guard discovered seven people “picking olives in flagrante delicto”. A woman, who admitted to having been paid to hire and supervise the six pickers, was taken into custody.
On site, the police also found false loading documents that allowed the stolen olives to be sold later by changing their origin. The olives seized from vehicles were returned to their owners.
Plague in Spain
Olive theft is becoming increasingly widespread in Spain, as the price of the fruit has increased sharply. According to Spanish police data, 48 people were arrested and 213,489 kg of olives were seized during the 2023-24 harvest season.
“In the province of Seville alone, 129 people have been questioned or arrested for crimes such as theft of olives, possession of false documents, fraud and other crimes related to the olive harvest,” she said.
In this province, 150,000 kg of stolen olives and 100 five-litre bottles of olive oil were seized last year.
