Great weather for tourists, but just the right conditions to cause havoc to the cucumber crops under plastic.

The atypical weather is causing the cucumber plants to go berserk and flood the sector, causing many producers to sell at below-production prices.

When the season began in September – it finishes in July – prices stood at 60 cents a kilo, which was pretty good and they would have remained that way had the production rhythm not thrown a wobbly causing one crop to overlap the next.

The cold which should have slowed production never came so that in the first three months the market has been swamped and prices have fallen to 25 cents a kilo. Trouble is, it costs 35 cents a kilo to grow them.

November saw a 20% over production with Granada throwing 18-million kilos of cucumbers at the international market a week.

There are two solution; grin a bear the lapse until the arrival of the cold or start dumping.

Be prepared to share the beach again with mounds of cucumbers!

(News: Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)