Moltó family orchard in Cocentaina, Alicante

Where: Cocentaina, Alicante, Spain

Hectares: 14

Olive trees: ~1,000

Primary cultivars: Alfafarenca, Blanqueta, Genovasa, Manzanilla & Acebucha

Single or multiple orchards: Single

In the mountains in Cocentaina, Alicante, Spain is the Moltó family orchard. Amongst 14 hectares, approximately 1,000 trees exist consisting of varieties Alfafarenca, Blanqueta, Genovasa, Manzanilla & Acebucha (this Spanish word refers to a wild, unknown variety).

The orchard is evenly divided (seven hectares each) between sibling-in-laws Enrique Moltó Valor, b.1921 and Josefa Jordá. The orchard is principally cultivated by Valor’s son Enrique Alfonso Moltó Mantero, b.1971, a professor of Geography at the University of Alicante, and Jorda’s two sons Guillermina and José Manuel Moltó Jordá.

Ownership

Historically, the orchard was owned by Arabs up until circa 1276 when its ownership, like much of the region, passed over to Catalonians during the Reconquista period. A structural artifact indicating Arabic ownership is a type of horizontally designed water well built into a mountain slope—a distinctive design for this group of people—which was formerly used to transport water (irrigation) in the orchard.

Current ownership

In 1947, Manuel Moltó Serra (of the region) purchased the land from a family of doctors from Alcoy, whose head of the family was Juan Segura. Serra was married (the wife’s name and date of birth is being sought) and the couple gave birth to Enrique Moltó Valor (noted above) and Josefa’s husband (name is being sought) who has since died.

As a remnant of the Segura family ownership, an embellished steel door that Juan Segura built remains at the entrance of the family orchard home today.

The orchard produces Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil at nearby La Cooperativa Agrícola Católica (which uses the brand mark Oli El Comtat) in Cocentaina, Alicante.