The Provincial Court of the Balearic Islands has admitted for processing the appeal against the dismissal of the investigation for animal abuse against the poultry mega-farm in the Mallorcan municipality of Llucmajor after upholding the appeal by 'STOP macrogranja Llucmajor. Sin Olor ni Moscas' against the dismissal of the case.

The head of Palma's Court of Instruction number 11 has dismissed the case of alleged animal abuse against the large poultry farm in Llucmajor, which was reported last year and where chickens lived alongside rats, filth, and the carcasses of other animals. According to the dismissal order, to which Europa Press had access, the investigations carried out did not substantiate the commission of any crime.

This Wednesday morning, the last truckload of chickens from the Avícola Son Perot farm in Llucmajor departed for the Spanish mainland. According to owner Onofre Ballester, speaking to ARA Baleares, this means the Llucmajor poultry farm has completed the de-escalation plan ordered by the Balearic Government in August. The government set a deadline of December 31st for the Llucmajor farm to cull chickens until its population was reduced to 40,000 due to an investigation opened against the farm following complaints from neighbors and several animal rights organizations that published videos showing birds in poor condition. Ballester explained that there are currently only 40,000 chickens left on the farm, and the rest had to be transported to slaughterhouses on the mainland to comply with the measure, "since there aren't any in the Balearic Islands," he criticized. All of this is happening against a backdrop of increased egg consumption in Spain. Demand for eggs has risen by approximately 20% since 2019, an increase attributed to the perceived nutritional and health benefits they have gained in recent years, according to the latest data published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. For this reason, Ballester considers the regulation "the world turned upside down; we're killing hens and there's a shortage of eggs."

Onofre Ballester, owner of Avícola Ballester, explained to ARA Baleares that he has requested a meeting with the Minister of Agriculture, Joan Simonet, four times, but laments that he has received "no response." In recent years, the Balearic Government has sanctioned and opened investigations against the company for its operating farms. However, the owner has submitted various appeals and even requested the correction of official reports filed by the Executive. Adding to the tense relationship between the Executive and the company is the fact that the Government rejected Ballester's proposed mega-farm in Sineu and prohibited such facilities with more than 160,000 hens. Until January 17th of this year, there were no regulations limiting the number of birds on farms in the Balearic Islands, and Simonet drafted them. In any case, Ballester's project did not go ahead because the Government shelved its environmental authorization process, according to a report of urban planning incompatibility issued by the Sineu City Council.

Under pressure from the opposition, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Natural Environment, Joan Simonet, defended his handling of the situation at the Llucmajor chicken farm and criticized the Armengol government for "failing to act." Simonet explained that between 2016 and 2021, the farm housed 127,000 hens. "Didn't anyone see them?" he asked. He recalled that the farm's operations began in 2016 with 40,000 hens, but added that in 2023, a sanctioning procedure was initiated due to the increased capacity of the operation. Avícola Son Perot, the company behind the Llucmajor poultry farm, requested the legalization of the facilities and authorization for a capacity of 135,696 hens after receiving a sanction imposed by the government's environmental agency. In August, the integrated environmental permit for the farm was rejected, and it was decided that its capacity had to be reduced to a third (40,000 hens). Regarding this, Simonet explained that a total of 36,000 animals have already been removed from the farm and that the remaining 52,000 are scheduled to be removed by the end of this month. "The work done by the officials and the Directorate General is adequate, it is correct, no mistakes have been made," he insisted.

The General Directorate of Urban Harmonization and Environmental Assessment has rejected the application for an integrated environmental authorization for the Cisternetas laying hen farm in the municipality of Llucmajor, and has ruled that the facility must reduce its capacity to a maximum of 40,000 more places, approximately one third.