Oil Mills

Almazara, the place where the oil is extracted from the olive

The Oil Mill

Almazara is the place where the oil is extracted from the olive. It also gives its name to the mechanism used to press the fruit.

It is also called Trujal in some parts of Spain.​ The literal translation of oil mill is “place where it is pressed ” or “oil mill”. Specifically, the word almazara means press, oil mill.

Almaçara it comes from Hispanic Arabic المعصرة (al-ma’sara = the place where the olive is pressed to extract oil) and this here the classic Arabic معصرة (ma’sarah = juicer).

The oldest mills were stone mortars that processed small amounts of product at a time. But over time these places have changed a lot.

The History of the Mill

Centuries ago, our ancestors knew that they could extract oil thanks to olive trees and their fruits and that to do this they had to grind these fruits with a machine.

The oldest were made of stone, large, over two meters high and worked with a small amount of products. They consisted of a large screw holding the levers that applied pressure to the olives, creating the oil. The mills were located in the central part of each city to facilitate the distribution of the oil.

The first industrial mills for the production of olive oil in large quantities date back to the 6th century BC. C., in ancient Greece.

Oil Mill

We can find different types of oil mills:

Private Mill

This is a private company and is owned by a family or an individual. The private oil mill can only process its own olives or other producers or farmers who do not have an oil mill.

This method of processing olives for others is known as maquila, where the oil is made for a person who previously brought their olives.

The owner of each oil mill sets their standards and sets the price for the production of each kilo of olives.

Cooperative Mill

This is the mill model, where multiple partners come together and create a cooperative to grind their olives and make their own olive oil.

Cooperatives are very important in Spain and it is a very common model with few members (around 50) or thousands of members.

There are about 1,750 mills in Spain, including about 950 cooperative mills.

Oil tourism

Although not all, many of these oil mills can be visited today to learn more about the process and all things olive oil. If you have the opportunity to do olive oil tourism, don’t stop.