The pig sector is presented as essential for the economy of small Spanish municipalities, as shown by the figures presented by INTERPORC. In the sparsely inhabited areas of our country, the pig industry generates more than 24,000 direct jobs, which represents 35% of total employment in the pig sector. And, according to the Interprofessional, in rural areas with less than 5,000 inhabitants there are more than 1,180 pig companies installed.
The pig sector’s commitment to ‘rural Spain’ is growing, since between 2008 and 2018 the number of industries located in municipalities with less than 5,000 inhabitants has increased by more than 13%. This growth is even more significant in regions such as the Valencian Community, in which they have increased by 30% and in which today there are 52 pig industries. They are followed by: Andalusia with 167 industries and a growth of 16% compared to the number of industries in 2008; and Castilla y León, with 285 industries and a growth of 15.4%.
Also significant are the increases in the number of pig industries in the rural municipalities of Castilla – La Mancha with 123 (12.8%), Galicia with 62 (12.7%), Catalonia with 249 (10.7%) and Aragon with 96 (4.35%).
This link between the pig industry and rural areas is added to the more than 37,000 production farms that are in municipalities with less than 5,000 inhabitants, which shows the essential nature of the pig sector and its direct effect on the economy of these small municipalities. where the pig sector generates stable employment and contributes to avoid depopulation.
