The trip was jointly organized by DIPLOCAT, the Delegation of the Government of Catalonia in Switzerland and INCAVI

A delegation made up of seven winemakers, winegrowers and agronomic researchers from Switzerland is visiting several places in Camp de Tarragona and the Penedès this week to learn first-hand the measures being taken in Catalonia to adapt viticulture to climate change. The Swiss representatives come from different wine regions of the country, specifically Valais, Vaud and Fribourg.

The trip, which stems from a previous visit that DIPLOCAT organized in Switzerland in the fall of 2021 to learn about good practices against depopulation, has been organized in collaboration with the Delegation of the Government of Catalonia in Switzerland and the INCAVI Both the Swiss Government delegate, Gabriel Boichat, and the director of INCAVI, Alba Balcells, participate in the various activities. According to the general secretary of DIPLOCAT, Laura Foraster i Lloret, who welcomed the Swiss delegation yesterday, "the aim of the trip is to create links between Catalonia and Switzerland through the exchange of experiences and best practices in the field of the fight against climate change and the adaptation of a sector as important to the Catalan rural world as viticulture".

The Swiss representatives will have the opportunity to learn about various experiences from winegrowers from the Pyrenees who will travel to the south of Catalonia, and will also visit winegrowers from the Priorat and the Conca de Barberà in their wineries. The program includes visits and talks at the INCAVI headquarters in Reus and Vilafranca del Penedès. Among the topics that will be discussed these days are extreme weather events, the new conditions for cultivation and production of wine, the varieties recovered in Catalonia, the ecological weeding in viticulture and the marketing and promotion channels. Finally, participants will also have the opportunity to discover the Most festival, dedicated to cinema and wine, which will take place from November 23 to 26 in the Priorat.

The effects of climate change affect more and more sectors of the economy and society. Among them, the sector of wine cultivation and production stands out, which faces important challenges in the face of global warming and which is developing strategies and solutions to deal with it. Switzerland and Catalonia are two territories where vines and wine occupy an important place both in the economy, as well as in culture and history. This relationship with the territory has very deep roots, which go back more than 2,000 years, and demonstrate a strong capacity for adaptation. Faced with a global climate crisis, the adaptability of viticulture demonstrates the resilience of these two regions.