Lorraine Williamson
Spain’s food supply chain runs on trust: in farmers, vets, transporters, slaughterhouses, and the paperwork that proves an animal is healthy, traceable, and fit for consumption. This week, a nationwide Guardia Civil operation set out to test that trust — and says it uncovered a long list of serious breaches.
The Guardia Civil, through SEPRONA (its environmental and nature protection service), reports that a national inspection drive across farms, livestock transports and slaughterhouses has led to 93 people being arrested or placed under investigation, including four legal entities. Authorities say 1,441 animals were immobilised or culled due to welfare or health irregularities.
A national sweep — and a clear message to the sector
The operation, dated 29 January 2026, involved checks across the country and forms part of the EU’s wider “farm to fork” agenda on safer and more sustainable food systems.
The Guardia Civil says the animals affected included 673 sheep, 368 poultry, 184 goats, 208 pigs, seven horses and one deer.
The cases investigators say mattered most
SEPRONA highlights several investigations that show how fraud and welfare abuses can surface at different points in the chain.
In Operation “Pox”, the Guardia Civil says a criminal organisation operating in Toledo, Ávila, and Madrid moved sheep and goats through clandestine facilities, used allegedly falsified documents, and introduced meat into irregular distribution channels. Investigators claim some meat ended up supplied to Asian restaurants in Madrid. The operation was coordinated by SEPRONA’s central environment unit alongside Europol, with regional and local authorities also involved.
In Operation “Saxum tubercum” in Badajoz, investigators say they detected fraudulent manipulation of bovine tuberculosis tests at a farm, alongside the presence of uncontrolled veterinary and human medicines and practices allegedly intended to conceal disease. In the same province, they also report dismantling a family group accused of sheep theft, with inspections intensified over concerns stolen animals were being “blended” into nearby farms. Authorities say they recovered stolen animals and immobilised 262 animals without traceability.
In Operation “Antimicrobiano”, the Guardia Civil reports irregularities linked to a veterinarian in Córdoba and subsequent dispensing in Córdoba and Ciudad Real, alleging poor practice involving prescription-only veterinary medicines. They also describe uncovering an illegal online trade in veterinary medicines, including a clandestine warehouse holding illicit products and over 1,000 medicines without traceability, intended for shipment across Spain.
And in Operation “Cabiano”, investigators worked with Belgian authorities on suspected documentation irregularities for transporting horses from Belgium to Cartagena (Murcia)
Why the EU keeps pushing “One Health”
Behind the enforcement language is a bigger European concern: animal health, human health, and environmental risk are increasingly treated as one connected system.
The EU’s One Health approach explicitly links issues like disease control and the prudent use of antimicrobials in animals to wider public health threats, including antimicrobial resistance.
That matters here because, alongside welfare cases, SEPRONA says part of this campaign focused on the misuse and illegal distribution of veterinary medicines — the kind of loophole regulators worry could undermine both animal health controls and food-chain confidence.
Criminal offences and thousands of administrative breaches
The Guardia Civil reports 65 criminal infractions, saying most related to alleged animal mistreatment and abandonment, with others linked to public health (including irregular medicine use), professional misconduct, the alleged channelling of unfit animals into the food chain, document falsification and criminal group involvement.
Alongside that, it reports 3,316 administrative infractions. It says 81% were related to animal health regulations and epizootic disease controls, with smaller shares linked to regulated activities and companion animal rules.
What this means for consumers and restaurants in Spain
Most people will never notice the systems that keep food traceable — until they fail.
Spain’s food safety framework leans heavily on traceability: the ability to follow a product through production, processing and distribution, so risks can be contained quickly. AESAN, Spain’s food safety and nutrition agency, stresses traceability as a core consumer protection tool.
For diners and customers, the practical takeaway is simple: reputable businesses rely on documented supply chains. When authorities talk about “irregular channels”, they are usually talking about missing paper trails — the exact thing traceability rules are meant to prevent.
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