cork

This Monday, the first American tourist group of the ‘From Bark to Bottle’ program arrived in Catalonia. About ten people saw the extraction of cork from a tree in the north-eastern Catalan region of Baix Empordà.  The objective of the tour is to shine light on the value and culture of cork as well as the positive aspects of Catalonia. Additionally, the objective is to educate: far from the Mediterranean, many Americans believe that trees are cut down to make cork, which is not the case. In fact, the director of the CFCA, Patrick Spencer has specified that they will not increase the number of tours nor make them bigger to not impact the environment too negatively, but additionally to keep the quality of the tours high and also “intimate”. 

The cork corresponds to a jar from a sunken ship at Port de la Selva, on Catalonia’s Costa Brava. The Catalan Center for Underwater Archaeology (CASC) and the Catalan Cork Institute (ICSURO) have carried out a research project that has compared the composition of the old cork with a current one. The cellular structure of the old cork remains, despite erosion by water over 2000 years.