Empathy with the pig farming sector, a two-way street

The concern about the emergence of African swine fever is understandable, because Catalan pork exports exceeded €3 billion in 2024. Compared to other sectors, the agri-food sector represented 19% of GDP, and pork exports accounted for 19% of total sales. These are very high figures. That's why it's vital that the outbreaks detected in wild boar don't spread to farms, an objective that has led the Minister of Agriculture, Òscar Ordeig, to ask people not to enter the areas where access has been restricted, "whether out of empathy for livestock farming, the rural world, or the economy." Let's be clear: this is a matter of national strategic interest, and citizen cooperation is absolutely essential. But this is where we must remember that the word empathy It must go both ways: from the country to the sector, but also from the sector to the country. And this empathy hasn't always existed: when there have been cases of millions of liters of slurry being dumped clandestinely, when the permitted limits for slurry application for fertilizing fields have been exceeded—causing the contamination of numerous aquifers—or when water pollution has been found in dozens of municipalities across our country.

The pig farming sector is very important, but it has left a mark on the land that in many cases is already irreparable. When this crisis passes, it will be the opportune moment to decide what levels of production and growth the sector can afford in Catalonia, if we don't want the business to justify everything.