Por Redaccion 
The province of Almería will soon have a new agri-food quality mention. The Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) published at the end of January the request for the inclusion of the Guaranteed Traditional Specialty (GTS) ‘Dried Octopus from Adra’ in the Community Register of Protected Designations of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indications (PGI), thus advancing in the procedures.
After the analysis by the European Commission, in February, the three-month period to submit objections to the entry of this GTS in the European inventory began. Therefore, it is expected that these procedures will definitively conclude in May, driven by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Rural Development to achieve European endorsement for the excellence of this product.
With this Guaranteed Traditional Specialty, Almería will be a production area for foods and beverages covered by a total of eleven designations. Specifically, there are already recognized at the European level a Protected Geographical Indication for shoulders and hams (‘Serón Ham’); five for wine (‘Desierto de Almería’, ‘Láujar-Alpujarra’, ‘North of Almería’, ‘Ribera del Andarax’ and ‘Sierra de las Estancias and Los Filabres’); one for vegetables (‘La Cañada Tomato’); two for canned fish (‘Andalusian Mackerel’ and ‘Andalusian Mackerel’) and one for meat (‘Segureño Lamb’). In this last case, the production area for the covered foods includes areas of Almería, Granada, and Jaén; and the fishery PGIs include products from the entire Andalusian coast.
European endorsement
At the regional level, the number of quality mentions recognized by the European Union amounts to 66 designations including PDOs, PGIs, and GTSs covering food produced in Andalusia. By sectors, extra virgin olive oil stands out especially, with a total of 13 mentions including 12 Protected Designations of Origin -PDOs- (‘Lucena Olive Oil’, ‘Antequera’, ‘Baena’, ‘Estepa’, ‘Granada Hills’, ‘Montoro-Adamuz’, ‘Western Granada’, ‘Priego de Córdoba’, ‘Sierra de Cádiz’, ‘Sierra de Cazorla’, ‘Sierra de Segura’, and ‘Sierra Mágina’) and one PGI ‘Jaén Olive Oil’.
Additionally, the autonomous community has mentions covering table olives (PDO ‘Aloreña Olive from Málaga’); fruits and vegetables (PDO ‘Chirimoya from the Tropical Coast of Granada-Málaga’, PDO ‘Raisins from Málaga’, PGI ‘Asparagus from Huétor-Tájar’ and PGI ‘La Cañada Tomato’); sweets (PDO ‘Granada Honey’, ‘Estepa Shortbreads’, ‘Estepa Shortbreads’, ‘Alfajor from Medina Sidonia’ and ‘Olive Oil Cakes from Castilleja de la Cuesta’); legumes (PGI ‘Chickpea from Escacena’) and bakery products (PGI ‘Mollete from Antequera’ and PGI ‘Bread from Alfacar’).
In the fishery sector, in Andalusia, foods covered by four Protected Geographical Indications are produced (‘Andalusian Mackerel’, ‘Andalusian Mackerel’, ‘Mojama from Barbate’ and ‘Mojama from Isla Cristina’); and the production of vinegar has three recognized PDOs (‘Condado de Huelva Vinegar’, ‘Jerez Vinegar’ and ‘Montilla-Moriles Vinegar’). Furthermore, the spirits sector is also included in the Andalusian agri-food quality mentions through a PGI (‘Brandy from Jerez’); and in the case of wines, the region currently has seven PDOs (‘Condado de Huelva’, ‘Granada’, ‘Jerez-Xérès-Sherry’, ‘Málaga’, ‘Manzanilla-Sanlúcar de Barrameda’, ‘Montilla-Moriles’ and ‘Sierras de Málaga’), a Quality Wine with Geographical Indication (‘Lebrija’) and 17 PGIs (‘Orange Wine from Condado de Huelva’, ‘Sierra Nevada Highlands’, ‘Bailén’, ‘Cádiz’, ‘Córdoba’, ‘Cumbres del Guadalfeo’, ‘Desert of Almería’, ‘Laderas del Genil’, ‘Láujar-Alpujarra’, ‘Los Palacios’, ‘North of Almería’, ‘Ribera del Andarax’, ‘Sierra Norte de Sevilla’, ‘Sierra Sur de Jaén’, ‘Sierras de Las Estancias and Los Filabres’, ‘Torreperogil’ and ‘Villaviciosa de Córdoba’).
On the other hand, the hams and shoulders of the region are protected by five designations (PDO ‘Jabugo’, PDO ‘Los Pedroches’, PGI ‘Trevélez Ham’, PGI ‘Serón Ham’ and GTS ‘Serrano Ham’); and the meat sector is represented through a PGI (‘Segureño Lamb’).
National protection
In addition to these designations already included in the European Union register, three other protected mentions at the national level are added while the community procedures are completed. Specifically, the Protected Designation of Origin ‘Málaga Honey’ and the Protected Geographical Indications ‘Seville Gordal Olive’ and ‘Seville Manzanilla Olive’.