It is still so hot in mid-September in the south-east of Portugal that around thirty farm workers only work in the mornings harvesting cannabis flowers for therapeutic use, an emerging sector in which the Iberian country is a pioneer in Europe.
"No other country in Europe has better environmental conditions than us. We should be the new Eldorado for the production of medical cannabis," says Jose Martins, agronomist in charge of this 5.4-hectare open-air plantation, located in the municipality of Serpa.
Set amid peaceful hills dotted with olive trees and cork oaks, but surrounded by high barbed wire fencing and monitored by infrared cameras, the site produces around 30 tonnes of cannabis flowers per year, with lower energy costs than greenhouse crops.
The farm belongs to the Portuguese pharmaceutical company FAI Therapeutics, created in 2022 by the Iberfar group to launch into the production of medical cannabis and follow in the footsteps of foreign companies already established in Portugal due to its favorable climate and legislation.
"Portugal is clearly at the forefront of Europe when it comes to countries producing cannabis for medical use," Jose Tempero, medical director of the Canadian multinational Tilray, which set up in Cantanhede (centre) in 2019, told AFP.
– “Huge request” –
With its 4.4 hectares of greenhouses capable of producing up to 27 tonnes of cannabis per year, the site, equipped with its own laboratories as well as the means to dry the flowers and extract oils, exports its production to several countries in Europe and Latin America, and even Australia.
The legalization of recreational cannabis remains rare in the world, but the medical use of this psychotropic plant is authorized in around fifty countries to treat chronic pain, the side effects of chemotherapy or certain forms of epilepsy.
"There is a huge demand from patients," says the boss of the German company Avextra, Bernhard Babel, who is also developing part of his activities in Portugal.
The choice of the Iberian country was obvious because it offers "probably the best environment" for this sector in Europe, mainly due to its climate and a "very good regulatory framework" put in place in 2019, he specifies.
"It is thanks to this that the products that leave the country offer security guarantees" to international markets, adds Pedro Ferraz da Costa, CEO of Iberfar, which owns the open-air plantation of Serpa.
According to Grand View Research, the global medical cannabis market was worth $16.6 billion in 2023 and could surpass $65 billion by 2030, while Europe's share could jump from $226 million last year to more than $1.2 billion by the end of the decade.
– “Growing acceptance” –
Portugal exported in 2023 nearly 12 tons of medical products extracted from cannabis, mainly to Germany, Poland, Spain and Australia, according to the National Medicines Authority (Infarmed), which does not specify the country's total production.
According to data dating back to May, more than sixty companies were then authorized to operate at the stage of cultivation, production of derivatives or their distribution, and approximately 170 other companies had already applied.
Despite the legalization of medical cannabis and the development of a production sector, Portuguese patients complain of difficult access to this type of therapy, not reimbursed by social security and prescribed by few doctors.
"There is a lack of information" within the medical profession in this "very conservative" country, regrets Lara Silva, whose 6-year-old daughter suffers from a severe form of epilepsy which has hampered her motor and cognitive development.
Two years ago, this 39-year-old mother living near Coimbra (centre) herself took the initiative to treat little Sofia with CBD, one of the cannabis derivatives that she had to order from Spain, and noticed improvements "overnight".
According to Tilray's chief medical officer, Jose Tempero, medical cannabis still suffers from a certain "stigma," but he also sees "a growing acceptance of cannabis beyond its recreational use."
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