Economic situation in the exportation activity of fruit and vegetable sector and its impact on the decision of (no) translation of Spanish corporate websites

Abstract

According to the macroeconomic data provided by the Central Bank of Spain (Banco de España), the value of exported goods by domestic firms is steadily increasing, especially in the field of fruit and vegetables. Goods are sold to countries such as France, Germany or the United Kingdom, and most of the exporting companies are located in the south or in the Levante areas of Spain. In this work, we analyse translation as a business marketing tool to understand if this increasing commercial trend positively affects the translation activity of multimedia website content. We identify companies that are located in Alicante and Murcia provinces and that are also registered in the Spanish Federation of Associations of Producers and Exporters of Fruit, Vegetables, Flowers and Live Plants (FEPEX) database; we also analyse to what extent their websites have been translated into the most “demanding” languages (English, French and German). Our results show that the relationship between exports and website translation is by no means direct and straightforward.