In brief
The recent outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) in Spain has sent shockwaves through the country's pork industry, which is the largest in Europe. Farmers are experiencing significant losses as international demand plummets and prices drop due to import bans. Efforts to control the spread of the disease include culling infected wild boar populations, but concerns remain over the effectiveness of these measures and the future of the industry.
Jordi Saltiveri gazes across his farmland, on which he keeps 8,000 pigs, remembering the day late last year when news emerged that African Swine Fever (ASF) had been detected in Spain. I felt sad, angry, impotent, he explains. Once it's known that a country is positive for ASF, other nations halt pork imports, leading to a crisis for farmers like Saltiveri.Based in Lleida, Saltiveri recalls his family-run farm's struggles, emphasizing that each pig's value has plummeted by about €30 ($35) to €40 post-outbreak. Despite the virus being contained in surrounding areas, the repercussions are felt acutely across Spain's pork industry, which has lost more than €600 million since the crisis began, according to farmers' organizations.The ASF outbreak originally occurred in Collserola Park—near Barcelona—where authorities quickly restricted access and began culling wild boars, suspected to be transmitting the virus. Catalonia's government aims to reduce the wild boar population by half, recognizing it as a contributor to the spread of ASF, with over 24,000 boars culled already this year.As import bans from countries like the US and Brazil kick in, farmers are anxious about the future. Experts assert that Spain must prevent a repeat of Germany's situation, where ASF drastically impacted the pork sector. As Spain enforces stringent biosecurity measures, farmers hold on to hope for market recovery amidst rising domestic trust in pork safety measures.
