A bizarre culinary row has broken out between Spain and France over tomatoes.
Former French environment minister and presidential candidate Ségolène Royal slammed Spanish tomatoes, calling them "inedible."
Ségolène Royal said: "Have you tasted the so-called organic Spanish tomatoes? They’re inedible!...Spanish organic is fake organic.
"Spanish fruits and vegetables do not meet French standards and should not be on [supermarket] shelves."
Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez and French politician Ségolène Royal have clashed over tomatoes
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The comments were met with backlash from Spanish farmers, who called her words "drivel" and "shameful."
Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez invited her to Spain to try one of the varieties of organic tomatoes saying: "[Royal] has not had the good fortune of trying a Spanish tomato. You will see that the Spanish tomato is unbeatable."
An organic farmers’ association has lodged a formal complaint against her in Brussels.
Farmer from Conil de la Frontera in southern Spain Bartolo Ramirez said: "That lady has a palate problem...Unlike in France and elsewhere, we have sun all year round.
"And that’s why our tomatoes, in addition to complying with all the strict regulations, have the flavour they have."
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Winegrowers unload tomatoes from a lorry during a road blocking demonstration to protest against imports of Spanish wine, on the motorway at the toll booth of Le Boulou
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During the ongoing farmers' protests, numerous lorries from Spain have been attacked.
A cargo of fruit, vegetables and wine was destroyed at the Boulou tollgate, a few kilometers from the Spanish border.
Alvaro Barrera, head of the Spanish professional association for organic production, Ecovalia said that the rules for organic produce are the same in both countries.
He added: "Spanish organic farming is governed by exactly the same regulations throughout Europe" calling Royal's comments "shameful."
In the last five years production of tomatoes has fallen by 20 per cent in Spain, which is the world's sixth largest producer of the fruit.
It comes as farmers in France accuse Spain of flooding the domestic market with low-cost products using large quantities of pesticides.
One third of all tomatoes sold in the European Union during the first quarter of 2023 were imported from Morocco.
France accounted for more than half of Moroccan tomato sales in the EU.
It was the first time that the North African country surpassed Spain’s tomato sales in the region.