For families across Spain, flowers are an important part of All Saints’ Day (El Día de Todos los Santos), honouring the memory of loved ones who have passed away. For the flower industry, 1 November also brings one of the busiest periods of the year.
In the month before All Saints’ Day 2026, IAG Cargo sees an uptick in flower volumes, comparable to the peak around Mothers’ Day, as growers, exporters and freight forwarders prepare to meet increased demand across Spain.
We sat down with Real Carga Ltda., a freight forwarder based in Bogotá and Quito, to find out what goes into preparing for one of the busiest periods in the flower calendar, how they coordinate the movement of fresh-cut flowers from Colombia and Ecuador to Spain, and what it takes to ensure they arrive fresh and on time.
Preparing for the peak
“For us, All Saints’ Day is probably the most important peak season of the year,” explains Ernesto Bernal, CEO at Real Carga Ltda. “We begin preparing months in advance, monitoring demand and production before working with different stakeholders across the supply chain to ensure we can deliver a complete operation based on those projections.”
Andrés Bernal, COO at Real Carga commented,
“Flexibility is key to managing the increase in demand during this period. Carnations and roses are particularly popular for All Saints’ Day, and our priority is to deliver on our promises to every client in Spain, with fresh products arriving on time.”
That flexibility matters because the seasonal increase in demand places additional pressure on available air cargo capacity, while the nature of the product leaves little room for delays. Getting flowers to Spain quickly is essential to meeting customer needs during the peak.
“As we move fresh-cut flowers, air cargo is vital to getting our products from Colombia and Ecuador to Spain quickly and in fresh condition,” Andrés states. “The main challenge is the bottleneck in available air cargo capacity when demand increases during the peak.”
Making capacity count
During the seasonal peak, flexibility across the IAG Cargo network helps Real Carga respond to changing volumes and customer demand. Flowers move from Colombia and Ecuador to Spain, on direct services from Quito and Bogotá to Madrid, with alternative routing options available across the wider network.
Once shipments reach Madrid, IAG Cargo’s hub provides 1,340 square metres of dedicated temperature-controlled space to support the handling of perishable products.
For Real Carga, the ability to access additional capacity during this period has become an important part of its relationship with IAG Cargo.
“IAG Cargo has historically done its best to increase capacity from Colombia and Ecuador to Spain during this period, supporting a significant part of the increase in demand,” Ernesto says.
The people behind every flower
While the customer challenge is ultimately about getting flowers to Spain fresh and on time, each shipment relies on people working across the supply chain, from growers and exporters to freight forwarders, airline teams and cargo handlers.
And for Ernesto and Andrés, that human connection is particularly fitting for a product with such personal significance.
“As we always say at Real Carga, when people see a flower, they see its beauty and meaning”, says Ernesto. “For those of us involved in the supply chain, it represents months of planning, teamwork and a lot of people working together to get the flowers there fresh and on time. Behind every flower that reaches the market for All Saints’ Day, there are amazing people working to make it happen.”
Through Constant Fresh and our wider network, we support customers like Real Carga in responding to seasonal peaks, helping move time-sensitive flowers from Latin America to Spain when they are needed most.
Behind the logistics is a simple purpose: helping our customers deliver for their customers, and ultimately helping families across Spain continue a tradition of remembrance observed for generations.
For more information on Constant Fresh, visit https://www.iagcargo.com/en/products/constant-fresh/
