In Legal First, Court Rules Spain Pig Farm Megapollution Breached Residents’ Human Rights
July 11, 2025 | Source: Euro News | by Rebecca Ann Hughes
A Spanish court has made a crucial ruling today regarding a landmark case on livestock megapollution in the region of Galicia.
In a legal first, Spanish citizens launched court action earlier this year against national and regional authorities over intensive pig-rearing.
The residents say the mismanagement of pollution from decades of industrial pig farming has made life in their community “unfeasible” – and is putting their health at risk.
The High Court of Galicia has now confirmed that Spanish national and regional authorities have breached residents’ human rights according to both the Spanish Constitution and European human rights law.
The court ruled that authorities have failed to manage record levels of pollution from hundreds of pig and poultry farms in the A Limia region.
The Xunta de Galicia and the Miño-Sil River Basin Authority have been ordered to immediately adopt all necessary measures to guarantee the end of the odours and environmental degradation of the As Conchas reservoir and its surroundings, restoring the full enjoyment of the right to life.