The 9th edition of Benvinguts a Pagès La Festa closes with more than 30,000 visitors across the territory

• The great celebration of farming took place this weekend across Catalonia, offering visits to more than 450 farms, producers, restaurants, rural accommodation providers and activity organisers
• This edition stood out for a batch of new features promoting recognition of the agri-food sector and sustainability

This weekend the Catalan countryside opened its doors for Benvinguts a Pagès La Festa, drawing more than 30,000 people who took part in the more than 450 agritourism experiences prepared across the territory. Visitors were able to get to know 90 farms, 150 accommodation providers, 50 activity organisers, 10 producers and more than 150 restaurants across Catalonia, seeing at first hand the importance of the country's primary sector, the work of the people in it and the origin of the products we eat every day.

This year the most visited comarques were Vallès Oriental, Osona, Maresme and Lluçanès, while Central Catalonia, Camp de Tarragona and Barcelona offered the most agritourism experiences to the public. 

Besides valuing the rural world and boosting the tourism offering, the initiative acts as a showcase for the territory's agri-food products, becoming a promoter of the marketing of local produce from the farms taking part, and of direct sales. 89% of visitors buy the products after seeing how they are made, spending an average of €35 to €40.

"Benvinguts a Pagès has once again established itself as a national project, showing that the agri-food sector is dynamic, vital, solid and competitive, with companies deeply rooted in the territory and committed to guaranteeing product quality and bringing the public closer to farming", says Ramon Sentmartí, managing director of Prodeca.

The agri-food sector is the most important part of Catalan industry in terms of turnover and employment. It accounts for almost 20% of GDP — 19.7% to be precise — generates aggregate turnover of €48.231 billion and employs 175,600 people, according to the study 'The agri-food sector in Catalonia', produced by ACCIÓ — the business competitiveness agency of the Department of Business and Labour — and Prodeca , the public company promoting Catalan food, part of the Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda.

Other new features supporting the primary sector and sustainability

Thanks to the good results of the 2023 pilot in the Ribera d'Ebre and Conca de Barberà comarques, this year the food producers category was extended to the whole of Catalonia, and visitors could call on 10 producers across the territory — companies without their own farm that buy raw materials from local farms to make their products, helping to strengthen the whole of Catalonia's agri-food business base.

Cutting the carbon footprint was also central to this year's La Festa, which maintains its firm commitment to being planet-friendly. Sustainability initiatives were therefore promoted. On the one hand, all visitors were told about the various green charging points for electric vehicles via the website Electromaps. On the other, shared transport was encouraged through the platform Som Mobilitat. This made it possible to reduce the number of journeys and use transport responsibly. Farms were also given the Sustainability Calculator of the Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda, a tool for self-assessment on sustainability and energy efficiency.

Another new feature this year was the "El teu comerç et porta a Pagès" promotion, in collaboration with the Joint Office for Sustainable Food. During May, Comerç Verd stalls in Barcelona's municipal markets selling agri-food products directly from farms taking part in Benvinguts a Pagès encouraged the purchase of products with the Local Sales label. For €10 spent, three winners received an all-expenses-paid weekend for four during La Festa.

Finally, unlike previous editions held in autumn, this year's took place in spring, responding to a request from primary sector professionals. Being held in June, it coincided with the fruit and vegetable harvest, good weather and the prelude to summer.

Exceptional figures year after year

This 9th edition, full of new features, ends with good figures that demonstrate and consolidate the initiative's success. The first edition of Benvinguts a Pagès La Festa was held in 2016 and since then it has welcomed more than 196,000 visitors — the cumulative total to date.

This year participants in Benvinguts a Pagès La Festa could enjoy visits such as Celler Castell del Remei (Penelles, Noguera), a century-old building with its former and current grape reception and dispatch facilities, or the producer Llegums cuits Can Guidic (Vall d'en Bas, Garrotxa); visit Molí d'en Rata (Ripollet, Vallès Occidental), a hydraulic flour mill, and take part in a bread workshop; stroll through les Borges Blanques (Les Garrigues) and enjoy a paired olive oil tasting; learn about honey production and transhumance at Dolça Abella (Crespià, Pla de l'Estany) or about rice growing and how a rice mill works at Lo Nostre Arròs (Amposta, Montsià); and sleep at Casa Bellera (Rialp, Pallars Sobirà), a 16th-century manor house in a privileged setting.