Vila Real, Portugal, Nov. 21, 2025 (Lusa) - The Douro Intermunicipal Community from northern Portugal is launching a new tourist route focused on olive oil, which includes visits to modern and traditional mills, tastings and gastronomic experiences, and aims to promote the producers who keep this tradition alive.
The Douro Intermunicipal Community (CIM), which brings together 19 local authorities, announced on Friday in a statement that the “Douro: Olive Oil Experiences” project aims to promote olive oil and the region, and is expected to be operational in the second half of 2026.
"The Douro is world-renowned for its Port wine, but the soul and landscape of our region are not limited to vineyards. Olive oil is our “liquid gold”, a centuries-old legacy that enriches our land and shapes our people," said João Gonçalves, president of CIM Douro, quoted in a statement.
The project is funded by the Portuguese Tourism Board through the + Interior Support Line.
"With “Douro: Olive Oil Experiences”, we are not only creating a tourist route, we are giving due recognition and enhancement to the varieties of olive oil and the dedication of olive growers, linking the quality of our product to the unforgettable experience of the World Heritage landscape," added the mayor of Carrazeda de Ansiães, in the district of Bragança.
This initiative aims to create a new tourist product focused on gastronomy, the richness of olive oil culture, the landscape heritage of the Douro - a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001 - and, “above all, on enhancement of the people who keep this ancestral tradition alive”.
According to CIM, the project will integrate "innovative tourist experiences, using olive oil as a central endogenous resource".
For this community, olive oil is "a pillar of regional and national cuisine" and an "essential element in enriching the Douro region and retaining its population".
"Olive trees, along with vineyards, are guardians of the landscape, contributing to the sustainability of the region and the resilience of small farms," CIM highlighted in the statement.
The new tourist product aims to offer visitors "a complete immersion in olive oil culture" and includes guided tastings of Douro olive oils (different varieties and flavour profiles), visits to traditional and modern oil mills to show tourists the process of transforming olives into oil, workshops and gastronomic experiences focused on the use of Douro olive oil as the main ingredient.
The CIM said that the project "has a strong local development component, aiming to support regional olive growing, create new sources of income for local communities and encourage people to work in the countryside and stay in the area."
The intermunicipal community believes that "by integrating olive oil and olive growing into the tourist experience, it is not only promoting the consumption of a product of excellence, but also actively contributing to the enhancement of the territory and its human capital, reinforcing the Douro's status as a destination for authentic and sustainable experiences."
CIM Douro is composed of the municipalities of Alijó, Armamar, Carrazeda de Ansiães, Freixo de Espada à Cinta, Lamego, Mesão Frio, Moimenta da Beira, Murça, Penedono, Peso da Régua, Sabrosa, Santa Marta de Penaguião, São João da Pesqueira, Sernancelhe, Tabuaço, Tarouca, Torre de Moncorvo, Vila Nova de Foz Côa and Vila Real.
PLI/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
