Charlie Smith
SPAIN produces more pumpkins than any other member state of the European union (EU).
The country grows 115,000 tonnes of the orange vegetable a year, 19,000 tonnes more than their nearest vegetable rival France, who annually produce 96,000.
Data was collected by Eurostat and in 2017 about 24,000 hectares were devoted to cultivating pumpkins and other types of gourd.
Germany came 3rd in the list of gourd growers, producing 92,000 tonnes annually, while Portugal and Poland came 4th and 5th each with hauls of 75,000 tonnes a year.
Pumpkin sales spike around Halloween, where they are used for carving, a practice first thought to have been done by the Maori 700 years ago.
