In these days of cheap flights when a trip to the continent is as commonplace as a visit to the petrol pumps I still get a thrill when I travel to Southern Europe and catch my first sight of oranges actually growing on trees. It goes back to my childhood when in the depths of a grim northern winter navel oranges would suddenly appear in the shops like balls of sunshine from a distance solar system. Then there’s the heady bouquet – the sweet scent of orange blossom on a warm Mediterranean evening always carries the promise of fresh foreign romance and unlike the duty free perfume at the airport it usually delivers.
To help you experience these citrus delights and learn something of the history of orange cultivation a Valencian-based company in is now offering guided orange tours of the area. Their day trip includes a visit to a citrus fruit factory, orange picking and a tour of the world’s only citrus museum.
The Levante region to the north and south of Valencia not only produces nearly 70% of the country’s exported oranges it also grows the most delicious in Spain. Their secret is that they lie on the very edge of the climatic zone where it is possible to grow decent citrus fruit. Winter cold snaps help to produce the deep colour in the oranges – like the pigments in autumn leaves – and the long hours of sunshine tempered by winter temperature gives a perfect balance of sweet and sour flavour to the fruit. Oranges grown in tropical sun are bland concentrations of sugar with pale yellow skins in comparison. For a wine analogy think jammy New World wines up against the complexities of cold climate Burgundies
The unique Museu de la Taronja (taronja is Valencian for orange) lies sixty five kilometres north of Valencia in Burriana. The coastal town made its wealth from the export of oranges and has never really had to concern itself with the business of tourism. This is all set to change this year when Valencia pays host to 34th America’s Cup and Burriana opens its revamped harbour to the visiting yachts and their teams
For now the city’s star attraction is the orange museum located in a turn of the century merchant’s townhouse in the historical centre of Burriana. It is a charming and slightly eccentric place that’s easy to find as it doubles as the main tourist office. The displays and old photographs dealing with cultivation, trade and transportation of oranges are interesting enough but it is the collection of printed ephemera that’s the real jewel in the crown. The museum has over five thousand orange box labels, hundreds of printed tissue wrappers and a large collection of posters all dedicated to promoting the colourful fruit.
At the start of the twentieth century the huge demand for oranges in the industrialised countries combined with a pool of talented artists in Valencia led to a golden period of commercial art. The museum gives a taste of this artistic outpouring with displays of labels depicting everything from wild senoritas to exotic beasts through to abstract and Futurist designs. The orange motif is ubiquitous no matter how incongruous the setting - one of my favourites is a wartime poster depicting a box of oranges heroically attacking the serpent of Nazism. It’s an accessible, life affirming art collection and my only complaint is that there isn’t more of the enormous archive on display.
Museu de la Taronja - carrer major 10 , Burriana tel. 964 511 54 15 www.museonaranja.com - closed on Sundays afternoon and Mondays.
The visit to a citrus fruit storehouse deals with the fruit processing from delivery through to sorting, washing and packaging. It provides an interesting insight into where the fruit in our supermarkets comes from, although you would have to be a real orange junkie or a factory fanatic to linger for more than the allotted half an hour. Wandering amongst the dwarf fruit trees picking fresh oranges on the next stage of the tour feels much more like a holiday activity and the orange grove provides the best place for a picnic lunch.
The tour company also offers the option of using bicycles in Burriana to tour between the storehouse, the orange grove and the museum. If you feel comfortable riding on Spanish roads this is by far the best way to experience the landscape.
After polishing itself up for the America’s Cup Valencia now has a great range of newly furbished hotels to choose from. However if you want to a complete fruit flavoured visit you should stay at Mas de Canicatti hotel, in Vilamarxanttwenty minutes inland fromthe Valencia city airport. The newish country hotel lies on a hill surrounded by over 500,000 square metres of citrus trees where many of the rooms lead directly onto the vast orange grove. The hotel is orange themed but not in a Easyjet ‘paint it all ginger’ style. It is much more subtle than that so you will find orange infused suckling pig on the menu and generous jugs of ‘tree-to-table’ fresh orange juice at breakfast. The theme only loses its way at the hotel spa where the citrus based treatments are best avoided – believe me lying in a tepid bath surrounded by orange peel is as uncomfortableand pretentious as it sounds
The Mas de Canicatti Hotel and Orange Spa (Tel 00 34 961 650 534 / www.masdecanicatti.com has double rooms from 191 euros
The best time to go an orange tour is from early april to mid may when the fabulous blossom is out. Romantics beware though - the heady perfume of fiftyhectacres of citrus flower is so intoxicating that you may end up falling into the arms of a passing waiter. The Orange Tour is only available from October till April when there are fully formed oranges, tangerines and clementines on the trees.
The orange tour is available through Valencia Guias (www.valenciaguias.com) The price of their private guide / Interpreter for up to 7 hours is £165 for a group up to a maximum 25. For a cheaper option you can you can make your own way to the museum and use the guide for the duration of the tour. (entrance fee to museum five euros) Or simply enjoy the visual pleasure of the museum sans guide.
Orange museum website www.museonaranja.com
Further reading - The Golden Fruit - The Spanish citrus industry 1781- 2000
by published by Generalitat Valenciana and edited by the museum curator Vicente Abad . Thelabel section is worth the cost of the book alone
For more information on the Region of Valencia go to www.landofvalencia.com