Pepper
Almería's leading protected crop by area, volume and value, the pepper ranges from colourful Californias to the slender Italiano and the fleshy Lamuyo, all picked by hand under plastic.
The pepper holds first place among Almería's protected vegetable crops by area, volume and value: for 2024/2025 the Andalusian Observatory records 12,682 hectares, some 911,800 tonnes and a farm-gate value of 1.121 billion euros — around a quarter of the province's greenhouse area. Like the tomato, it was among the very first crops of the pioneering 1963 greenhouse in Roquetas de Mar.
The gastronomic interest lies in the diversity. The California, short and square, is picked red, yellow, orange or green; alongside it, the Lamuyo is larger and fleshier, the Italiano longer and slimmer — the frying pepper. The range also includes sweet conical, hot and snack types. Harvesting remains manual, to free the fruit without damaging peduncle or branches.
The sector looks firmly outward: 54% of the volume produced was exported in the 2024/2025 season, with the European Union taking 84% of shipments and Germany leading at 38%. In northern European markets, winter's colour arrives in crates of Almería peppers.
Varieties
- California red, yellow, orange or green
- Lamuyo
- Italiano
- Sweet conical
- Hot
- Snack
Season
The crop that broke in the plastic
Peppers were already growing in the founding greenhouse of Roquetas de Mar in 1963, and they still cover more ground than any other crop under the coastal roofs. From outside, the grid of greenhouses barely changes from one crop to the next; inside, the trellised rows form aisles where red, yellow and green ripen at hand height.
California sets the pace
Around a quarter of the province's protected acreage is planted with peppers, trained vertically on sanded soil and fed drop by drop. California types share the greenhouses with Lamuyo and Italiano, over a season that runs from autumn to spring.
