The passion for mycology is at its peak in the autumn, after the first rains, when the mushrooms grow in the field to delight the fans to harvest, an activity that enhances rural development and nature tourism.

Among the fundamental concerns, the knowledge needed to discern dozens of different species to avoid food poisoning that, in the worst case, can lead to death. With this objective of training and awareness of lovers of mycology and the search for mushrooms have been working for seven years the four Basque entrepreneurs who created the fungipedia.org.

Juan Andrés Román, Francisco Javier Calvo, Aitor Calvo and Ricardo Ibarretxe are the creators of this web portal from which a mobile application was born with 500 types of copies, making it the most extensive mycological catalog in Spanish for smartphones. 

Your data can also be consulted on paper, thanks to "Mushrooms. The definitive guide, "a publication that - as explained to Efeagro Francisco Javier Calvo - includes 117 types of mushrooms with texts and images that distinguish edible varieties from toxic.

Collection areas

Calvo lives in Galdacano (Vizcaya), an area rich in mycological varieties thanks to the combination of a humid and temperate climate with the existence of different habitats (pinewood, oak or beech) in a small area, where boletus, níscalos , Millers or pardillas.

A wealth of mushrooms also occurring in the Natural Park of the Sierra de las Nieves (Malaga) where the company Micogest offers mycological outputs in which basic notions of good practices for the collection and identification of species are taught. One of the partners of Micogest Manuel Becerra has pointed out that this is one of the "best areas" to collect mushrooms in Spain for its good weather, with abundant rainfall.

Sierra de las Nieves extends for 300 square kilometers of chestnut trees, pine groves, oak groves, mountain pastures or cork oaks where thistle mushrooms, boletus, níscalos or "egg yolk" (amanita caesarea) grow.

On the other hand, in Castile and Leon there are areas such as Soria or Zamora where the celebration of mycological days, seminars or even the existence of museums and mycological associations make this activity an essential pillar of rural tourism in autumn and spring.

In Rabanales (Zamora), the director of the mycological museum, Pedro Gómez, has highlighted Efeagro that this area is the largest in Spain in concentration of industries that are engaged in the collection and transformation of wild mushrooms for consumption.

The commercial interest lies mainly in the presence of boletus edulis, which is born along with the jarales of the area, a fact unique throughout the Peninsula and even a reason for scientific research.

Soria and Aragón

In the province of Soria, the president of the mycological association of Navaleno, Jesús Javier Andrés, says that the boletus is the "king" of this area, where there are numerous restaurants with mycological offer and guides that organize walks in the mountains With signposted routes.

Aragon also has mycological tradition and in mountainous areas such as the Moncayo have been classified more than 600 species.

The municipality of San Martin de la Virgen del Moncayo is the epicenter of all the mycological activity, having a center of mycology, rural houses and restaurants that have turned myotourism into an "incentive" for its economic development, as indicated by the Coordinator of this center, Javier Cortés.

The collection of mushrooms has become one of the most attractive activities to go out in the countryside in autumn and a source of wealth and life for the rural territory, but always with prudence as the first rule.