Spain rescues its millennium-old olive trees

They have seen generations pass, the world change, and survived droughts and cold spells for a thousand years. Yet, just as they did in the Middle Ages, Spain‘s millennium-old olive trees continue giving humans their green gold – a highly prized olive oil variety, which is now becoming popular as far away as Asia and the Americas. Spain is rediscovering its ancient olive trees, which had been endangered by the advance of urbanization and a search for more productive olive tree varieties. The country‘s largest concentration of the ancient trees can be found in the north-eastern community of Taula del Senia – a grouping of 27 municipalities – where they number more than 4,600 in an area of 1,100 square kilometres.