Bartolomé Servera, president of the food and drink distributors association in the Balearics, is warning that the price of one egg could increase to one euro because of supply problems and the possibility of exporting eggs to the US.
One euro per egg would represent a massive price increase. Depending on the size of an egg and on location, a dozen eggs in Spain's supermarkets can currently cost around three euros. As it is, the price has gone up some 30% this year, with the possibility of exporting to the US said to be driving it up further. In the opinion of economists such as Professor María Cadaval at the University of Santiago de Compostela, this is "unjustified". The US has historically not imported European eggs because of quality and disease regulations. Spain at present has a valid export certificate for egg products but not for fresh eggs.
Faced with the rise in price, people in Mallorca and the Balearics who have their own hens will be grateful that they do. However, they have to be aware of the regulations or risk being fined. Chickens for personal consumption have to be registered with the regional ministry of agriculture; the maximum number is twenty.
According to the government's agriculture director-general, Fernando Fernández, there are 3,002 registrations in Mallorca. Failure to register can carry fines of between 600 and 3,000 euros, the current regulations having been in force since 2020. "No fines have been imposed, nor have any sanctioning procedures been initiated," says Fernández.
He explains that each region of Spain has its own sanctioning procedures and has carried out its own risk assessments. "Keeping chickens for personal consumption is not considered to be a risky activity."
3 comments
To be able to write a comment, you have to be registered and logged in
Jacky ELLIOTTYes Jacky ---the Yolks on us !!!!
Well that is a new one. I and I bet many others had no idea you had to register to keep a few chickens on your property. We have always had chooks since the 80's, in fact it got up to 30+ at one point ( I blame the cockerels). At feeding time I held out my arms and got one on each arm and often one on my head. Nowadays 4 to 6 is quite enough. It will be interesting to see how many bits of paper to fill in and how many hoops to jump through. I am sure bureaucracy will do its best to not make it easy. And what about the ducks, guinea fowl and peacocks, all of which we have had from time to time ?
I suspect fowl play has something to do with this.....