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Date Published: 14/01/2022

The effects of macro-farms on the Mar Menor

Officials in the Region have been asked for information on the environmental impact of these large pig farms

A request has been made to authorities in the Region of Murcia to present information relevant to all the macro-farms that have been authorised since 2017, and particularly their impact on the pollution of the Mar Menor. The state of Europe’s largest salt water lagoon has been deteriorating for a number of years and the European Commission has repeatedly warned the regional government of the detrimental impact intensive farming can have on the environment.

Macro-farms have been making headlines in recent days after Spain’s Minister of Consumption accused them of producing poor quality meat from ill-treated animals. His comments come on the back of several protests by environmentalists across the country demanding tighter regulation of these facilities.

The Region of Murcia is one of the top twenty areas in all of Europe for the number of pigs reared and contributes heavily to the amount of pork exported outside of Spain. Macro-farms are undoubtedly big business in the Region, but activists are concerned that the animals are frequently abused and living in cramped conditions, while the waste they produce is washing detrimental nitrates into the Mar Menor.

In addition to providing details of the potential pollution by these farms of the lagoon, the local authorities have been asked to produce the environmental impact reports of each of these facilities in Murcia, with the focus on the amount of greenhouse gas produced, the loss of biological diversity that they have produced, the impact of the farms on water pollution derived from over-fertilisation, and emissions of ammonia, nitrates and phosphorus.

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