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The zascas through social networks are the order of the day. The latest case that has gone viral is José Andrés’ response to a controversial tweet by Pablo Iglesias against Mercadona. The founder of Podemos published a photo with the label of a bag of oranges on which one could read the variety Naranja Valencia, but with South African origin, thus criticising the owner of Mercadona for not being in favour of Valencian producers.
It didn’t take long for the controversy to erupt and, in just a few hours, the post had accumulated almost 17,000 ‘likes’ and thousands of responses, including that of chef José Andrés. The media chef was totally against this statement and responded with a ‘zasca’, as many users commented. The Asturian explained that “in the countryside, many fruits have seasons. Spanish oranges are not always available. And sometimes they are imported”. He also added a message of support for the Valencian businessman, saying that “what the businessman does is maintain jobs all year round… and create new ones”.
In addition, José Andrés added a enlace where a complete analysis of Spanish citrus imports could be consulted. His tweet received almost 3,000 ‘likes’.
Mercadona already gave an explanation 4 years ago
Pablo Iglesias’ reflection received as much criticism as support. Although many pointed out that it was an old photo, as the date 02/09/2021 could be read on the label. Other users also clarified that Naranja Valencia refers to a variety of this fruit, which is so called because it is inspired by the renowned orange of Valencian origin.
In fact, four years ago, Mercadona’s own account responded to a user’s comments on whether its oranges came from countries such as Morocco, South Africa or Argentina. To which the company replied that they imported oranges “from September to the end of October, once we have exhausted the production volume of the domestic season, and there are no oranges in Spain during those months. For years, more than 90% of the oranges sold in Mercadona have been national”, the account concluded.
