• Common name: Olive tree
• Scientific name: Olea europaea, L.
• Honoris Causa: Alfonso Escámez López (October 7, 1997)
• Honoris Causa: Jaime Carvajal y Urquijo (October 3, 1998)
• Honoris Causa: Pedro Laín Entralgo (October 23, 1998)
• Honoris Causa: Federico Mayor Zaragoza (October 3, 2000)
• Honoris Causa: Antonio García-Bellido y García de Diego (January 28, 2002)
• Honoris Causa: Valentín Fuster de Carulla (October 4, 2005)
• Honoris Causa: David Álvarez Díez (May 24, 2010)

ORIGIN: Mediterranean region.

CHARACTERISTICS:

• Its leaves are evergreen.
• Grayish leaves and a twisted trunk.

INTERESTING FACTS:

• It is possibly the most venerated tree since antiquity by all known religions and civilizations.
• There are specimens over 1,500 years old. Visit “La Farga de Arion” in Ulldecona (Tarragona), an olive tree planted in 314 AD.

USES:

• FOOD: Through its olives or its extract, providing high-quality oil.
• INDUSTRIAL: Widely used in cabinetmaking due to its hard and compact wood.
• MEDICINAL: Through extracts of its leaves, bark, and the oil itself, it has vasodilating, hypotensive, diuretic, antiglycemic, fever-reducing, laxative, and other properties.
• COSMETICS: Perfumes, soaps, etc.