A life among the fields: what it means to be a farmer in the Baix Empordà today

Every day we ride past rice fields, olive groves, vegetable gardens and vineyards. We photograph them, tell our customers about them and enjoy them. But behind this landscape are people who get up every morning to work it, and we often forget that what we see is, first and foremost, their work.

A job that has changed a lot

A few decades ago, almost every family in the villages of the Baix Empordà had some connection to farming. Today there are fewer farmers, farms are larger and machinery has replaced many hours of manual work. What hasn’t changed is the dependence on the weather: a hailstorm, a drought or a strong tramontana wind can decide a whole harvest.

What it takes to keep going

Production costs rise year after year, while the price farmers get for many products doesn’t always keep up. Many combine farming with direct sales, agritourism or processing their own produce in order to carry on. And the next generation isn’t guaranteed: not every son or daughter wants, or is able, to take over.

Why it matters to us

Without farmers, the Empordà that people come to discover wouldn’t exist. The rice fields of Pals, the centuries-old olive trees and the paths between the fields are a landscape because someone works them. That’s why at Nafent Bikes we want our routes to connect visitors with the people who make this land what it is, not just with the postcard.

How to ride with respect for those who work the land

• Stay on the paths and don’t ride into cultivated fields.
• Slow down and give way when you meet a tractor or farm machinery.
• Close any gates you find closed.
• Don’t pick fruit or take produce from the fields.
• And above all, buy directly from the producers whenever you can.

Meet Empordà’s producers by bike

On our food and wine routes we visit mills, wineries and local producers who tell us first-hand how they work. It’s a way of enjoying sustainable tourism in the Baix Empordà: riding slowly, eating what is made here and keeping the money in the local area.