(ANSA) - MADRID, 12 JAN - A heated debate has been open for days in Spain regarding statements with which the Minister of Consumption, Alberto Garzón, criticized what he called "maxi-farms".
"We have to distinguish between industrial farms and extensive farms," the minister said on December 26 to the British newspaper The Guardian. "The latter type is ecologically sustainable and has a lot of weight in certain regions of Spain, such as Asturias, Castile and León as well as Andalusia and Extremadura"; he added, before declaring: "What is absolutely not sustainable are the so-called maxi-farms (...). They take a place in depopulated Spain, and put 4,000, 5,000 or 10,000 head of cattle there, pollute the land and water and then normally siesporta… It is a worse quality meat, it is the mistreatment of animals and it has a huge ecological impact ".
The controversy over the words of Garzón, who represents the Unidas Podemos team (left) in the government, started after some opposition exponents offered themselves a few days later. Harsh criticism of the minister has come not only from the right and from a part of the powerful sector of Spanish meat production, which accuse Garzón of "attacking the farmers", but also from members of socialist governments, including Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
"This controversy makes me very sorry," he declared on Cadena Ser radio. "We are talking about a sector that produces meat of the highest quality in Spain", he added.
In the last few hours, Garzón reiterated the concepts expressed to The Guardian, recalling that both in Spain and in Europe, measures are being taken to limit imaxi-farms.
Already in the summer, Garzón had invited citizens to "eat less meat" to make its consumption more sustainable.
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