Around 30 winegrowers and winemakers from Alentejo gathered today in Évora, at Praça do Giraldo, to protest against the illegal entry of Spanish wine into Portugal, which they say is subsequently sold as Portuguese wine. The producers hung a banner with the inscription "No to fraud. Spanish wine is not Portuguese" and deposited grapes and buckets of grapes on the cobblestones.
António Cláudio, a winegrower from Vendas Novas, stated that the estimate of 100 million liters of illegal wine entering Portugal annually comes from the president of the Vine and Wine Institute, noting that since 2019 this amounts to over 700 million liters, a value equal to the entire Alentejo's production in one harvest. Luís Louro, a winemaker in Estremoz, reinforced that this situation is devaluing and leading to the abandonment of Portuguese viticulture.
The producers warned that they currently receive only 32 cents per kilogram of grapes, and that the cheap wine entering from Spain is what sets the grape price in Portugal. Luís Louro explained that illegal wine enters without denomination of origin and is sold as Portuguese table wine, proposing that regional wine commissions should have inspection capacity within their regions.
The Technical Association of Alentejo Winegrowers and the Alentejo Wines and Spirits Association expressed solidarity with Douro winegrowers and demanded strengthened control of imported wines. CONFAGRI also warned of the crisis in the sector, demanding support for national producers facing price competition that Portugal cannot compete with.
