The Unió de Pagesos de Mallorca (Mallorca Farmers’ Union) has criticised the first vice-president of the Balearic government and minister of Economy, Finance and Innovation, Antoni Costa, for recommending a wine from outside the Balearics for Christmas. The organisation referred to an interview given by Costa last Tuesday, in which he stated that his wine of choice for the festive season would be a Ribera del Duero.
In a statement, the farmers expressed their ‘deep disappointment and indignation’ at statements that ‘flagrantly ignore the excellent wine production’ of the Balearics. In their opinion, it is “unacceptable” for the head of the community’s economy to ‘turn his back on the primary sector at the time of peak consumption of the year’.
‘It is disrespectful to the hundreds of families who work the land in Formentera, Ibiza, Menorca and Mallorca. The Vice-President seems to forget that his responsibility is to protect and promote the region’s own economic fabric,’ said the coordinator of the Unió de Pagesos, Joan Gaià.
The head of the organisation gave examples such as if a French minister recommended a foreign wine for Christmas, ‘he would have to resign the next day’, or that it is inconceivable for the president of Castile and León to ‘toast with an Ibizan wine at a public event’. “A public official in the Balearics should be the foremost ambassador for local products. The country’s wine producers, through their taxes, contribute to paying his salary as vice-president, which he shows he does not deserve with statements and attitudes like this. We hope that Father Christmas or the Three Kings will bring him the good taste and sensitivity necessary to appreciate the great work of our producers and that he will put aside his gastronomic nepotism when speaking as vice-president,” said Gaià.
The Unió de Pagesos has pointed out that the wine sector in the Balearics is a benchmark for quality, with designations of origin and protected geographical indications that receive international praise.
Therefore, the organisation has concluded that recommending products from outside the region is not only a ‘communication blunder’ but also a ‘direct attack on food sovereignty and the sustainability of the landscape’.
For all these reasons, they have asked the regional government to rectify the situation and guarantee its commitment to local products ‘beyond the photos’. They have also invited the public to fill their tables with wines from the archipelago during the Christmas season. Shortly after the statement from the Unió de Pagesos, Costa responded in a message posted on his social media account accompanied by an image of three wines from Ibiza. ‘These will be the wines on my table tonight and tomorrow at lunchtime. If a mistake is made, it is rectified and an apology is offered,’ he wrote.