A Coffee Forest Grows In Northern Spain

Nestled in a valley of oak trees, about 55 miles outside Barcelona, rows upon rows of Gesha and Castillo plants are steadily growing at Finca Castellvilar.

The nearby town of Torelló can dip to freezing temperatures in the winter—a far cry from the balmy tropics where coffee normally thrives. But the constant stress of the plants’ new environment only makes them stronger, according to the farm’s husband-and-wife owners, Joan Giraldez and Eva Prat.

Even in October, as temperatures dropped to 40 degrees, a handful of Gesha plants were still flowering. To Giraldez and Prat, the explanation is simple: evolution. “Just like there are foxes in the mountains, in the arctic and antarctica, in the desert—it’s a clear example of how an animal has adapted to different climatologies,” Giraldez tells me. “Why couldn’t this happen with coffee?”