Activists from the organization Igualdad Animal demonstrated in front of the Congress of Deputies in Madrid, Spain, demanding the end of force-feeding in the production of foie gras. They aimed to show political parties their support for a Non-Legislative Proposal (PNL).
The PNL, presented by the Sumar Parliamentary Group, will be debated in the Agriculture Committee of the Congress in the coming weeks.
This legislative proposal urges the Government to conduct a public consultation to assess whether force-feeding is compatible with scientific reports, legal framework, and citizen awareness. The goal is for the process to result in the total prohibition of a practice already deemed cruel.
Furthermore, the initiative calls on the European Union to review marketing regulations that require the livers of ducks and geese to reach a minimum weight.
Foie gras: force-feeding and the cruelty of a controversial practice
Every year in Spain, nearly a million ducks and geese are subjected to force-feeding. According to the organization’s denouncement, during their last weeks of life, they are forced to ingest up to two kilos of corn paste per day through tubes.
This process causes their livers to enlarge up to ten times their normal size, leading to severe suffering for the animals.
Force-feeding is considered by Igualdad Animal as one of the “cruelest practices in the food industry,” something extensively documented in their recent research.
Despite scientific reports advising against it, Spain, along with France, Hungary, Bulgaria, and parts of Belgium, is one of the few EU countries still allowing it.
Legal progress and lack of control
The recent ruling by the Supreme Court (STS 298/2025), which recognized the sentiency of ducks and geese, set an important legal precedent. This judgment marked a turning point by interpreting animals raised for consumption not as mere production goods, but as beings capable of feeling.
The practice denounced for cruelty in foie gras production. (Photo: Igualdad Animal).
Despite regulations such as the European Directive 98/58/EC and Spanish laws (Law 32/2007 and Royal Decree 637/2021) prohibiting unnecessary suffering in farm animals, the Spanish Government has yet to take legislative measures to stop this practice.
Moreover, as they exposed, the data reveals an “ineffective control system,” with few annual inspections. They even claim that each farm could be inspected, on average, only once every four decades.
In this regard, it is emphasized that inspection is not sufficient, and the only solution appears to be prohibition.
On the other hand, in October 2024, Igualdad Animal delivered over 100,000 signatures to the Congress exposing that Spanish society mostly rejects this practice.
