The Canned Food Fair is an annual event in Murcia, Spain’s leading 
area for fruit and vegetable production and processing, At the 
left is the tower which rises about four stories above the fair 
grounds, It is composed of various cans of fruit items, and , 
topped by a mechanical turtle and windmill, Pictured under 
this is one of the exhibition buildings, Below, some of 
the display booths, being readied for the fair’s opening, 
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Most of Spain's fresh fruits are now shipped by truck or rail. Sea transportation, in the 
past, handled most fresh exports, but time lag and damage to fruits plus improved rail and truck 
service have caused this shift to rail or truck. Conversion from the wide-gage Spanish rail to 
the normal gage now only takes seconds--a considerable time saving from the past when cars 
had to be unloaded from the Spanish rail and reloaded to French cars. Now the same car is 
shipped through. The shipping time from the shipping points to London and Continent markets 
now takes from 18 to 36 hours compared with the 7 to 10 days by sea. 
Some of Spain's canned fruits are shipped by rail, but most go by sea from the Port of 
Cartagena, Connected by excellent road and rail systems, Cartagena is located about 40 miles 
south of the largest canning area of Murcia. The Valencia area also has excellent road and rail 
systems and the port of Valencia. 
National Canning Fair 
A rapidly growing National Canning Fair is held annually in Murcia, Exhibitors of canned 
fruits comprise over half of the exhibits--vegetables, fish, and meats number over 600. Cannery 
machinery and equipment are also exhibited. 
The site for the Fair, containing 15.8 acres, is located on the outskirts of Murcia. The 
fair grounds consist of three large exhibition buildings--two of which are two stories--and many 
individual booths which line a beautiful garden pavilion. 
Attendance at the Fair--which lasts about 15 days--has been increasing and, during the 
past few years, has been over 1 million. According to Fair officials, acceptance of the Fair by 
the canning industry and the public has been very good and plans for expanding it into an inter- 
national affair have been undertaken. 
Besides the canned goods and machinery exhibits, lectures, panel discussions, and work 
shops on the various aspects of the canning industry are provided. Some of the topics discussed 
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