From the “rain-fed triad” to “Europe’s orchard”: the dependence of Spanish agricultural production on irrigation and pollination

Abstract Over the past 60 years, the Spanish agricultural sector has undergone a profound transformation, evolving from a low-productivity system into a highly specialized and productive one. However, the production strategy that established Spain as “Europe’s orchard” has relied heavily on the consumption of ecosystem services, whose provision is increasingly threatened by climate change and environmental degradation. This study aims to provide an economic valuation of two critical ecosystem services, irrigation and pollination, within Spain’s agricultural sector, offering a quantitative measure of their contribution to agricultural production value as well as the quantification of the relation between them. The findings indicate that at the national level, irrigation accounts for 49% of the total agricultural production value, while pollination contributes 12%. However, there are significant regional disparities: in certain regions, irrigation supports up to 91% of agricultural production, whereas pollination accounts for as much as 26%. Additionally, the strong relationship between irrigation and pollination services is evident, as 71% of the production value generated by pollination derives from irrigated crops. These results underscore the vulnerability of Spain’s agricultural model to water scarcity and pollinator decline, highlighting the urgent need for sustainable resource management strategies. Although policy recommendations addressing these challenges persistently face implementation difficulties, this research emphasizes the economic significance of ecosystem services and provides valuable insights for balancing agricultural productivity with long-term environmental sustainability.