11.2.2022
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
C 70/21
3.6.
Specific rules concerning labelling of the product the registered name refers to The packaging must bear the words ‘Arroz del Delta del Ebro’/‘Arròs del Delta de l’Ebre’, as well as the PDO and EU logos and all the general information required by the applicable legislation.
The PDO logo, in colour, is as follows:
4.
Concise definition of the geographical area The area in which ‘Arroz del Delta del Ebro’ PDO is grown and processed is the Ebro Delta, within the districts of Baix Ebre and El Montsià in the Province of Tarragona.
The production area comprises the entire territory of the municipalities of Deltebre and Sant Jaume d’Enveja, and the parts of L’Aldea, Amposta, L’Ampolla, Camarles and Sant Carles de la Ràpita that fall within the Ebro Delta area.
The milling and polishing area comprises the same municipalities as the production area.
5.
Link with the geographical area
5.1.
Specificity of the geographical area H i s t o r i c a l fa c t o r s Rice-growing is traditional to the Ebro Delta area, with close links to the Delta’s formation and physical and geological development.
There are many written references attesting to the link between this tradition of rice-growing and the Ebro Delta area.
One notable example is Geografía de Catalunya [Geography of Catalonia] by Lluís Solé i Sabaris (1958), who wrote that ‘there is evidence of attempts to grow rice in the Ebro Delta in the fifteenth century; however, it was in the nineteenth century that rice-growing really developed as an activity’.
In the same work he also states that ‘in the Delta, which was used for grazing transhumant livestock, the Canal de la Derecha [right-hand canal], built in Xerta in the second half of the nineteenth century, allowed the land to be flooded with fresh water and a rice crop to be established.
Since then, rice-growing has expanded continuously, with the benefit of desalinating the soils and at the same time yielding good produce’.
The activity has continued uninterrupted until today and rice is now the main crop grown in the area.
Natural factors Rice-growing developed in the Ebro Delta both because of the local soil and climate and because of the salinity of the land and the level of the water table.
The silty soils of the Ebro Delta are highly fertile and ideal for growing rice.
The soil make-up is strongly influenced by irrigation and the practice known as colmateo or ‘silting-up’ (a combination of water and soil movements to ensure the beds are in good condition before sowing).
The crop yield is among the highest in the world, reflective of the area’s position on the 40th parallel north and the 19 °C isotherm.