Miel de Galicia

Miel de Galicia (Mel de Galicia in Galician) is a Spanish honey with a protected geographical indication (PGI). It is produced, extracted and packed in Galicia from movable-frame hives and sold liquid, crystallised, creamed or as comb.

By origin it is polyfloral or single-flower: eucalyptus and chestnut (at least 70 % of that pollen), blackberry (45 %) and heath (30 %), plus honeydew, which may be labelled miel de bosque, forest honey. Moisture is up to 18.5 %, HMF up to 28 mg/kg and diastase at least 9 Schade units. Sunflower, olive and rockrose pollen together may not exceed 5 %.

Galicia is cut off from the rest of the Iberian Peninsula by mountains, has a maritime influence and mostly acid soils. Most local honeys carry chestnut, blackberry, broom, heath and eucalyptus pollen, with eucalyptus common on the coast. The 1752–53 Ensenada census counted 366,339 traditional hives in Galicia, and in 1880 the priest Benigno Ledo built Spain's first movable-frame hive here.

Colours run from amber to dark; the taste is mostly sweet, with bitterness and astringency in chestnut and heath honey.

Why this matters to you: in a clear glass jar of 500–1,000 g, look for the honey type and the words indicación geográfica protegida. Chestnut honey and Honeydew honey from Galicia are darker and more bitter, eucalyptus is gentler.