Spain's pig farms are poisoning a lagoon
Spain's pig industry bears major responsibility for the massive fish die-off in the saltwater lagoon Mar Menor.
An investigation shows that the role of the pig industry in polluting one of Europe's largest saltwater lagoons is greater than has been publicly acknowledged.
Five tonnes of dead fish
Residents in the south-eastern region of Murcia raised the alarm in August when large numbers of dead fish washed up on the shores of the Mar Menor lagoon. Within a few days, the number of rotting carcasses had risen to more than five tonnes.
Scientists attributed the die-off to decades of nitrate-laden wastewater that had triggered massive algal blooms, stripping the water of oxygen and effectively suffocating the fish underwater.
A four-month investigation by Lighthouse Reports and journalists from elDiario.es and La Marea examined how intensive pig farming contributed to one of the worst environmental disasters in Spain in recent years.
A 2019 report by the Spanish Ministry of the Environment estimated that these pig farms — which at the time housed nearly 800,000 animals — were responsible for 17% of the nitrogen in the groundwater of the Mar Menor.
«Significant deficiencies were found in the facilities for storing animal waste — the sealing is almost non-existent, allowing waste to seep directly into the soil, leading to groundwater contamination», the report states.
«It is clear that the main source of pollution is intensive agriculture in the Mar Menor catchment area, but there are around 450 pig farms in the catchment area that nobody is talking about», said María Giménez Casalduero. «It is as if we are granting amnesty to the pig industry.»
Spain's booming pork exports
The number of pigs in the Murcia region has reached record levels. Last year, more than 56 million pigs were slaughtered across Spain, 3 million more than in 2019.
«Mar Menor is a wake-up call», said Giménez Casalduero. «If you want to supply China with ham, you have to destroy territory and become a dumping ground for the waste of the international pork market.»
«The pig fattening operations have grown without any oversight and have created a bubble driven by international markets and exports to China in particular", said Andrés Pedreño Cánovas, professor of sociology at the University of Murcia. "But bubbles always burst, and this one will leave behind a devastated, polluted region in crisis.»
