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Illegal Murcia pig farms taken to court
Environmental concerns and legal battles are escalating over a growing number of unregulated farms in the Region
The proliferation of pig farms and the rise of biogas plants in the Region of Murcia are becoming increasingly interconnected issues. The presence of large-scale pig farms is driving the development of biogas production, as these facilities rely on agricultural and livestock waste, including pig slurry, to generate energy. This trend has been particularly noticeable in recent years across Spain, with Murcia now at the centre of this expansion.
The environmental association Ecologistas en Acción highlights that Murcia ranks third in Spain for the number of industrial farms, following Lleida and Huesca. In the Region, 20 municipalities host at least one large-scale pig farm, accounting for 44.44% of all municipalities. Lorca leads the list, with 40 macro-farms dedicated to fattening pigs and 10 for breeding sows.
The rapid expansion of these farms has led to multiple legal battles, especially given recent stricter controls on expanding polluting pig farms in the Region. Several cases are currently active in the courts, with proceedings at various stages. One of the most prominent involves alleged illegal construction of pig sheds in El Campillo, Puerto Lumbreras, where the town’s mayor, María Ángeles Túnez, is under investigation. According to José Manuel Muñoz, a lawyer for Ecologistas en Acción, the indictment has already been filed.
Muñoz points out that these facilities were built without the required authorisation from the Confederación Hidrográfica del Segura (CHS), meaning they lacked legal access to water resources. Furthermore, they operated without urban planning licences or an Integrated Environmental Declaration.
The lawyer notes that at the time of construction, the General Urban Development Plan was suspended, meaning no licences should have been issued. Despite warnings from Ecologistas en Acción, the local government allegedly ignored these concerns.
According to Muñoz, these developments constitute two potential crimes: one against the environment, due to the occupation of a watercourse, and another related to urban planning violations, as construction was carried out in restricted areas.
And this is not the only case under legal scrutiny. Other investigations involve illegal pig farms around other parts of the Region, which Ecologistas en Acción argue are not isolated incidents but rather part of a broader pattern of weak oversight. They stress the need for stricter inspections by the Directorate General for Agriculture and Livestock, asserting that many farms continue to operate outside legal requirements.
“The public administration and control systems are failing, allowing these illegal activities to persist,” warns Muñoz. As legal cases mount, pressure is increasing on authorities to enforce regulations more rigorously and address the environmental impact of unregulated pig farming in Murcia.
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