On November 27, Spain notified the loss of its status as a country free from African Swine Fever (ASF), a virus that had not been detected since 1994. Currently, 13 infected wild boars have been confirmed, all in the Collserola Park, just within the zone of influence of the Animal Health Research Center (IRTA-CReSA). The laboratory at the Autonomous University of Barcelona is at the center of suspicion of being the point of origin of the virus. Seprona and the Mossos d’Esquadra are currently investigating whether the virus came from the IRTA CReSa or from an infected sandwich abandoned by a truck driver on the AP7. Regardless, the presence of the virus – which so far only infects wildlife – has brought down the price of Spanish pork and highlighted the serious risk of monoculture of Spanish livestock, which is facing one of its biggest crises.
Spain is the leading pork producing country in the European Union and the third in the world. In 2024, the sector achieved a turnover of 25 billion euros in Spain and generated more than 415,000 jobs, producing almost five million tonnes of meat, cold cuts and hams. Today, throughout the country (especially in the so-called emptied Spain), there are more than 67,500 pig farms and more than 56 million pigs are slaughtered every year. The sector is concentrated mainly in the sparsely populated areas of Lleida, Huesca, Zaragoza, the Barcelona region of Osona, Segovia, Salamanca or Cuenca.
Oriol Rovira owns a family farm in Oristà (Barcelona) which produces 300 sows and 8,000 piglets per year. Their farm is located 50 kilometers from the home and has been affected by provincial regionalization which prevents the export of the meat of their animals to certain countries outside the European Union, such as China. “This crisis is generating a lot of uncertainty. The drop in prices has pushed us below production costs,” he laments. Rovira reveals that the proliferation of pig farms in Spain is due to the fact that “it is a profitable activity and in which there is high demand”, at least until the ASF crisis broke out. “The risk we run is that all farmers raise pigs, we depend on exports and, with the current plague, we are now very weak,” he concludes.
Pere Castell, professor of economics at the University of Barcelona, focuses on these foreign links. “The livestock sector in Spain depends exclusively on pork exports, since the rest of the meat is practically not exported.” Castell affirms that Spain, until now, is competitive in pork production thanks to the volume generated in regions like Catalonia and Aragon. “It is an intensive and industrialized monoculture which makes us very competitive. However, the concentration of activity generates problems such as slurry management,” explains the professor. Castell admits that the ASF crisis will affect the sector, but he is convinced that it will be overcome and that Spain will continue to be among the main pork producers.
Gustavo Duch, graduate in veterinary medicine and coordinator of the journal Food sovereignty, biodiversity and culturesit’s energetic. “From a capitalist point of view, playing all the cards in an activity makes you vulnerable and carries risks. » Consider that pig monoculture is not only dangerous because of a crisis like the plague. He denounces the fact that to feed millions of pigs we have to depend on feed made from corn and soy from third countries. “There are four or five large companies that monopolize the profits of the pig sector. Workers were fired at the first opportunity in this crisis. Workers are also very poorly paid, while the economic benefits of monoculture fall into the hands of a few businessmen,” he laments.
Duch denounces that the importation of soybeans to feed pigs on macro-farms “collapses” the Amazon ecosystem and displaces its local farmers. And he criticizes the fact that Spanish macro-exploitations contaminate aquifers with slurry. “If the virus ends up entering a farm, the animals being overcrowded, contamination will be automatic. It is obligatory to diversify the species, to leave breeding in the hands of small producers and to achieve a more distributive economy,” he concludes.
Spain is the third largest exporter of pork in the world. The country charges around $8.7 billion a year selling this meat abroad. The majority of trade takes place with the European Union, and China is the main purchasing country outside the EU. “We have to change the chip and produce food for ourselves, not for China. Spain does not produce enough vegetables or gardens and we have to buy from abroad. This crisis ends up warning us that globalization is crazy,” concludes Duch.
Ricard Parés is professor at the Department of Animal and Food Sciences at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and director of the Catalan Association of Pork Producers (Porcat). “Within Spanish breeding, the pig sector is the most important. We are in a free market and the current system is due to a natural evolution of the activity of Spanish farmers,” defends Parés. The director of Porcat affirms that the success of pork in Spain is a consequence of the system put in place, strict regulations and that “other markets are incapable of self-sufficiency and must resort to the Spanish market”. Parés defends the macro-farm system, saying there have been no health problems within them. “This crisis will accelerate the concentration processes. The breeders will be bigger and bigger, because if the plague continues, they will be the only ones with enough muscles to support it.”
The secretary general of the Employers’ Federation of Meat and Meat Industries (FECIC), Ignasi Pons, defends the professionalization of the pig sector in Spain and assures that monoculture is due to three factors: “There is a tradition of breeding that is passed on from parents to children, there is a free market and it is very profitable breeding.” Pons does not want to be pessimistic and assures that we are far from the spread of the plague, so he believes that the ASF episode will eventually be overcome.
Rossend Saltiveri owns a pig farm in Ivars d’Urgell (Lleida), more than 110 kilometers from PPA’s home. He is also responsible for the pig sector of the agricultural union Unió de Pagesos. “We all have pigs because beef or mutton costs more. Raising dairy cows costs more. Even raising a calf costs a lot more. On the other hand, pigs are easier and their consumption is widespread throughout the world,” he argues. Saltiveri assures that with all the industry, infrastructure and demand generated in Spain around pork, it is impossible, even if there is a lasting crisis due to swine fever, to diversify a breeding that has become a monoculture.
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