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SPAIN Fungiturismo puts By Magda Verfaillie, Mycelia
The fantastic wines have brought global renown to La Rioja. Growing numbers of tourists have visited the region to enjoy a relaxing holiday and some serious wine tasting. The name La Rioja rings bells in our sector too, but in this case as one of the two most important centres of mushroom production in Spain. Annual production here reaches no less than 61,000 tons of mushrooms and 5,000 tons of oyster mushrooms - 60% of the total Spanish production. The general public are mainly unaware of this feat, but the initiators behind S.L. Fungiturismo intend to change all that. In April 2013, Javier Honorato saw a long-held dream fulfilled with the inception of S.L. Fungiturismo in Pradejón, the epicentre of mushroom growing in La Rioja. This project combines a promotional centre for mushrooms with a mushroom-themed restaurant. Some hard lobbying by Javier resulted in the full support of the local authorities in Pradejón and of Julio Fernandez, President of “Sustratos de la Rioja”. Julio Fernandez’s fervour succeeded in winning over compost producers and mushroom growers and so competed the circle. Fungiturismo is formed by two private entities - Javier Honorato and Javier Asunción - and five local commercial composters: Champra, Cantarroyuela, Iberchamp, Jimechamp and Agruset. Honorato takes care of promotional activities and guided tours, while Asunción directs his energies to the restaurant and the bookkeeping. The restau- rant sits on a quiet square in the village of Pradejón, where 90% of the inhabitants are directly or indirect-
ly employed in the mushroom industry. It bears the rather fitting name of “La Espora” – the spore.
The one and only Javier Honorato: “I am the proud manager of the first - and only- mushroom promotion centre in Spain. We target a wide audience: young and old, families and schools, national and international tourists. We offer an entertaining and educative programme with a culinary slant, which aims to encourage visitors to get into the kitchen and start making their own meals with mushrooms. The tour starts in our visitors’ cen- tre, where visitors enjoy an interactive introduction to fungi and mycelium, and where we explain the importance of preparing a good substrate to achieve good yields. In keeping with the essence of the story, the walls of this room have been insulated using blocks of shiitake substrate. The subsequent visit to the commercial sites gives a detailed description of the entire cultivation process. Actually witnessing the substrate covered by mushrooms is a new and spectacular experience for many of our visitors. An exhibit that draws particular gasps of amazement are the thick- stemmed pleurotus eryngii cultivated in bottles at the Agrusets farm. The tour ends at “La Espora” where the guests are treated to a range of original tapas and tasters based on mushrooms. Our idea is certainly catching on, as after a year of hard work we are noticing a promising rise in the number of bookings.” “Agritourism is a child of its time, so we promote
promotion on the menu
La Rioja is generally associated with the wine of the same name, but the province also enjoys a re- putation as a major centre of mushroom production in Spain. Javier Honorato and Javier Asunción want to promote this aspect of the region.
Javier Honorato (right) with the chef at La Espora.
Moveable partitions create a flexible interior in the restaurant.
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