A newly detected virus in citrus fields across Alicante province is threatening to devastate lemon production, with estimates suggesting up to 500,000 trees may need to be uprooted. The disease, known as yellow vein chlorosis, has been confirmed in around 500 plots in Camp d’Elx and Vega Baja, many of them planted in 2024 and 2025.

The virus causes yellowing of leaves and deformities in fruit, and there is currently no treatment. According to Asaja Alicante president and lemon producer José Vicente Andreu, sampling has returned a high number of positive results, making large-scale removal increasingly likely.

Trees have already been destroyed in Camp d’Elx, and work is due to begin in Vega Baja, including Torremendo, La Murada and Algorfa. Farmers are bearing the costs for now. One grower, Pedro Valero, has said he spent 40,000 euros removing 600 trees, and must now wait for his land to become productive again.

Asaja is urging the nurseries that supplied the affected saplings to replace them free of charge. Although the virus is not classified as a quarantine disease by the European Union, the organisation argues that nurseries had a duty to apply strict plant health controls. There is some reassurance for growers, as neighbouring trees have so far not tested positive, raising hopes that the outbreak can be contained.