Pasas de Málaga

Pasas de Málaga (lit. "raisins from Málaga") is a protected designation of origin (PDO) for raisins produced in the province of Málaga, Spain, that meet the requirements established by its regulatory council.

History
Muscat grapes were brought to Spain by the Muslims between the 7th and 15th centuries. Raisins have been produced in the Axarquía region of Málaga for at least the last three centuries.

Raisin production in the province of Málaga peaked in the 19th century. Every year, 5,700 tons were exported to other European countries and 7,300 tons to the United States. It is worthy of note there were trading companies that were the exclusive suppliers of raisins to the Spanish Royal Household. Starting in 1875, various factors led to a decline in the sector: the fall in prices due to the increase in production, the arrival of powdery mildew disease, a phylloxera invasion in 1878, and competition in the form of Corinth raisins from Greece. Production, which took place on small farmsteads or Minifundio, did not return to its peak levels. In the 1960s, there was some increase in production, which declined again in the 1990s.

In 2017, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) named the Málaga Moscatel Raisin Cultivation System, in the Axarquía region, as the first European crop in the category Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS), as officially declared at the FAO Conference in Rome on 19 April 2018.

Characteristics
Raisins are obtained by the natural dehydration of grapes of the Vitis vinifera variety, until they reach a state that allows for their preservation. The designation of origin covers raisins produced in the Axarquía region and the western coast subregion, an area comprising the municipalities of Manilva, Casares, and Estepona. Malaga raisins are made from Moscatel grapes: ''En cuanto a las variedades de vides plantadas en la zona de producción, en el siglo XIX, eran muy diversas. En la actualidad, la variedad que predomina es la Moscatel. Esta variedad, procedente de África, ha sido utilizada desde la invasión musulmana para vinificación, uva de mesa y pasificación. Su dispersión ha sido muy grande a lo largo del tiempo lo que explica la existencia de gran cantidad de sinónimos para esta variedad como son: Moscatel de Alejandría, Moscatel gordo, Moscatel de Chipiona, Moscatel gorrón, Moscatel de grano gordo, Moscatel de España, Moscatel de Málaga, Moscatel real, Moscatel romano, Moscatel de Valencia y Moscatelón.''

The Regulating Council of Designation of Origin is the same one that regulates the Málaga and Sierras de Málaga designations of origin, after the merger approved by the Regional Government of Andalusia in 2004, when it was renamed Regulating Council of the Designations of Origin Málaga, Sierras de Málaga, and Pasas de Málaga.

The Axarquía region, which is located east of the city of Málaga, includes a total of 35 municipalities, although raisins are only produced in about 15.