Spain is a poor performer under the VACI (on par with Thailand), due largely to its high consumption of meat.
August also announced Rompesuelas as the next bull to be gruesomely speared to death in the infamous tournament celebrated in Tordesillas every September. Being away from Spain, as I usually am during the month of August, the news that reached me from my country made me look at it with a mixture of sadness, rage, and repulsion.
Margarita Carretero-Gonzalez
Spain is a poor performer under the VACI (on par with Thailand), due largely to its high consumption of meat.
Spain slaughters around 18.4 land-based animals per person / year, which is significantly higher than the global average of 9.7. The country’s dependency on farm animals is moderate, with around 4.2 farm animals per person (compared with a global average of around 4). It slaughters a relatively high number of horses and rabbits. Factory farming is widespread in pig, rabbit and poultry production.
The Spanish diet contains a high proportion of animal products, with around 56.9% of the average person’s diet being made up of land-based animal protein (compared with a global average of 35.2%). This equates to each person consuming around 30.8g of land-based animal protein per day (compared with a global average of 26.7g). A 2012 public estimated only 0.5% of the population was vegetarian.
Spain was given a “C” under the Animal Protection Index (API), and is also a moderate performer under the Sanctioning Cruelty category. While the regulatory environment is considered adequate under the API, cultural attitudes make progress in the animal protection space difficult (such as bullfighting, the running of the bulls festival and the Spanish foie gras industry). Learn more about the quality of Spain’s legislative protections on the API here.