The president of the Popular Party (PP), Pablo Casado, has asked this Tuesday for “responsibilities” and the “immediate rectification” of the Minister of Consumption, Alberto Garzón, for his words on December 26 about macro-farms in an interview in the newspaper British The Guardian. In it, Garzón affirmed that these farms “pollute the soil, pollute the water and then export poor quality meat from abused animals”, while qualifying extensive livestock farming as “sustainable”. Citizens have asked this Tuesday for his disapproval in the Congress of Deputies. The socialist president of Aragon, Javier Lambán, has called for his dismissal: “These unfortunate and senseless statements are a direct attack on an important part of the Aragonese economy.” The meat employers are studying taking legal action against the minister.

Although the interview was published more than a week ago, the reactions have followed this Tuesday after Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, president of Castilla y León and candidate of the Popular Party (PP) in the regional elections on February 14, has qualified Garzón’s words of “attack” by the “Government of Spain” to the ranchers. The president of the popular has joined the criticism of Mañueco for the “attack on ranchers and farmers and the image of our country.”

The Minister of Consumption, who has already faced criticism from the opposition and the meat industry When he asked to “reduce the consumption of meat”, he replied that the accusations made by the members of the PP are “a lie” and highlighted what he qualifies as “just praise for extensive cattle raising” that he demonstrated in the interview: “Mr. Mañueco is desperate for far-right votes and that is why he resorts to lies and manipulation of the lobbies. Hopefully rectify ”, has concluded Garzón. Regional government permits for the construction of new macro-farms have been the subject of recent criticism from environmental associations such as WWF, Greenpeace or Ecologists in Action for the contamination caused by the nitrate contained in pig manure. As a result of the controversy, the minister has posted the extended and uncut version of the interview on his Twitter profile:

This Tuesday Ciudadanos has presented a non-law proposal to disapprove the minister in the Congress of Deputies because, according to the formation, he has managed to “irretrievably damage” Spanish livestock. In addition, he has criticized that Garzón affirms that “all” macro-farms “systematically fail to comply with environmental regulations” and assure in the proposition that, if it is not carried out in Spain, production “will be replaced by that of third countries with environmental and animal welfare standards. considerably worse ”. So he has asked the Executive to help “actively” in the ecological transition of the livestock sector and “not to ruin its reputation.”

The leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, has sentenced through Twitter: “For them sirloin. For you worms ”. Asaja – Agrarian Association of Young Farmers – has called the words of the Minister of Consumption “inadmissible” and have called for his resignation due to the “continuous attacks on the Spanish countryside.” Different associations of ranchers such as UPA —Unión de Pequeños Agricultores y Ganaderos— have requested a rectification or the resignation of Garzón.