In the northwestern region of Galicia, locals have been contending with foul smells, dangerous drinking water and a deteriorating natural environment for years. The alleged culprit: industrial pig farming.
“This used to be a paradise,” said local environmental activist Manuel Garcia, standing near a pile of waste from . “People here, when they had bad harvests, fed themselves with what nature provided. Hunting, fish, frogs.”
But as pig and chicken farms have expanded over the decades, Garcia has seen his home district of A Limia deteriorate. Pigs produce a staggering 2 tons of urine and feces annually. By comparison, an average dog excretes around 270 pounds (122 kilograms) of waste a year.
The waste is rich in nitrates, which can be useful as fertilizer but is harmful in excess. Garcia said nitrate runoff has killed fish and frogs, and transformed what he remembers as the lush Lima River into something resembling “a sewage treatment plant.”
A farmer by profession, Garcia has spent much of his time in recent years raising awareness of the problem. He said much of the pig waste has been dumped without proper precautions.
But in July 2025, a group of residents, backed by scientists and lawyers, won a case against regional authorities over that they say harmed the environment and violated their human rights. The first ruling of its kind in Europe, it could set a blueprint for other communities and may even reach the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, where a decision could force change at the national level.
“While the Spanish court granted regional remedies, a Strasbourg ruling could go further by recognizing structural failings,” Malgorzata Kwiedacz-Palosz, senior fundamental rights lawyer with ClientEarth, told DW. “[It could require] Spain to implement systemic reforms, including improved nitrate monitoring, farm regulation and water quality protections.”
Why locals took the fight against pig waste to court
The case used evidence from the wider Lima River basin but centered around the town of As Conchas and its large reservoir. With all the waterways from the basin flowing into the reservoir, its waters have become progressively more polluted since the 1990s.
Pablo Alvarez Veloso and Mercedes Alvarez de Leon, two of the claimants, recalled when the reservoir was central to recreational and social life. “Little kids played on the shore, older ones swam. And that was a hub of relationships,” said Alvarez Veloso.
Today, swimming is often forbidden due to pollution. In warmer months, cover the surface, a visible sign of eutrophication caused by excessive nutrients like nitrates from fecal waste and over application of fertilizer. The blooms and release as they die. The combination of nearby farms and dying algae means the area is constantly plagued by strong odors, said locals.
Despite the environmental degradation and complaints from residents, local and regional authorities have claimed not to know where the damage is coming from.
Livestock waste is usually diffuse and hard to trace, making such legal cases difficult. But in the Galicia case, there was evidence.
According to nitrate specialist Serafin Gonzalez, one of the expert witnesses who testified, healthy water should contain less than 10 milligrams (or 0.00035 ounces) of nitrates per liter. But he said his meta-analysis of studies on the region found “about 10% of the samples are above the legal limit. There are also records published in scientific journals up to 329 milligrams per liter.”
A 2021 Greenpeace investigation found nitrate levels of up to 130 milligrams in wells in A Limia. Besides impacting the environment and local wildlife, high nitrate levels can cause blood abnormalities that are potentially fatal to young babies. Other toxic chemicals and antibiotic-resistant bacteria were also detected.
By analyzing the samples, nitrate specialist Serafin concluded industrial farming was overwhelmingly responsible and that the pollution most likely didn’t come from other sources. “From the evolution of the human population and industrial farming, we are sure that the main origin is industrial farming — 98%, 99% sure,” he said.
Why the residents won and what’s next?
Residents won recognition that their under Spanish and European law had been violated. Authorities have been ordered to compensate the claimants, clean up the river and take measures to prevent more pollution from entering the water.
But the case could still be appealed to Spain’s Supreme Court and possibly to the in Strasbourg. Kwiedacz-Palosz, of ClientEarth, said a ruling at this level “could significantly enrich European human rights law” and “elevate the issue from a regional failure to a matter of state responsibility under
A Strasbourg case on livestock pollution has never been heard, making it a chance to clarify countries’ obligations on excess nitrate, livestock farming odors and antibiotic-resistant bacteria in water. This is relevant across Europe, where the European Commission says 81% of nitrogen in waterways comes from livestock.
A ruling at the European level could set a precedent for countries around the world legislating on similar issues. Even if it doesn’t go all the way to Europe, the Spanish ruling could provide a blueprint for other claimants.
“You need to link the pollution to the source, which is livestock. And we manage to do in this case. And as the judgment is publicly available, it can be seen how we managed to do it,” said Kwiedacz-Palosz.
Edited by: Jennifer Collins
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