The confirmation of the first case of African swine fever (ASF) in a wild boar within the city limits of Barcelona has marked a turning point in the management of the outbreak that has affected the Collserola area since November. Catalan authorities have decided to tighten restrictions and close access to the park's natural environment across the board, which until now had only been limited at night or in specific areas.
The discovery of the infected animal, very close to the border with Sant Just Desvern , has led the Catalan government to treat the Collserola mountain range as a single unit , tightening the control perimeter and extending the measures to all the municipalities involved. Although the virus does not affect humans, the alarm is focused on the risk to the pig population and the economic consequences this could have for one of the key sectors of Spanish livestock farming.
First positive case in Barcelona and a change of scale in containment
The Catalan Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and Food, Òscar Ordeig , has confirmed that the new positive case is linked to the same outbreak that originated in the Sant Just Desvern area , where infected wild boars had already been detected. The difference is that, this time, the animal has been located within the city limits of Barcelona, which, in the minister's own words, represents "a change of scale in the containment strategy ."
The detection comes after several weeks in which the outbreak has gradually broken through the initial perimeter around Cerdanyola del Vallès and the UAB campus , considered ground zero since the end of November. In various appearances before the Catalan Parliament, Ordeig admitted that this scenario was “to be expected,” once the infection had spread south of the mountain range, first to the Baix Llobregat region and later to areas within the Barcelona metropolitan area itself.
According to the latest figures from the Catalan government, more than 216 wild boars have tested positive for African swine fever (ASF) since the outbreak began, a number that will continue to rise as the Ministry of Agriculture officially validates new samples, including that of the boar found in Barcelona. At the same time, more than a thousand animals have tested negative, providing a more accurate picture of the disease's spread.
The Department of Agriculture has consistently emphasized that, despite the spread among wild animals, no pig farms have been affected , and the goal remains to prevent the virus from reaching livestock farms. The key, they stress, is to minimize the movement of infected wild boars and prevent the virus from spreading beyond the high-risk area.
Total closure of the Collserola Natural Park
The immediate consequence of this first case in Barcelona is the expansion of the closure of the Collserola Natural Park . What were previously partial and nighttime restrictions will now become a general ban on accessing the park's natural environment throughout the day. The Catalan government will approve a specific resolution to implement these restrictions and adapt them to the circumstances of each affected municipality.
The new restrictions block access to the forest area for walking, running, cycling, hiking, or walking dogs on trails and paths. Picnic areas, parking lots, and most outdoor recreational activities are also closed . Hunting is prohibited, except for organized hunts by the authorities to control the wild boar population and curb the spread of African swine fever (ASF).
Despite the strict measures, the regional minister has repeatedly offered reassurance: people who live or work in the area will still be able to move around . Access to homes, businesses, facilities, restaurants, the Tibidabo amusement park, and public transport stops will remain open . The aim is to limit recreational and sporting use of the mountain, not to isolate those who depend on these areas for their daily lives.
Ordeig acknowledged that it is “impossible to completely seal off” a forested area like Collserola, with its neighborhoods, housing developments, and roads running through it, but argued that the strategy involves treating the mountain as a single unit and reinforcing controls in areas with higher traffic. To this end, meetings have been scheduled with the affected municipalities and local police forces to determine which paths will be closed, how they will be marked, and how the public will be informed.
The Catalan government insists that public cooperation is essential: residents are asked to respect access restrictions and to call 112 if they find dead wild boars or those showing suspicious symptoms. Joint patrols of rural agents, the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police), Seprona (Nature Protection Service), and agricultural technicians are already working on the ground to monitor compliance with the regulations and control the presence of infected animals.
18 municipalities in high-risk area and expansion of the outbreak
With Barcelona now included on the map of the African Wild Boar Risk (ABR) zone, there are now 18 municipalities that are part of the high-risk area around Collserola and Vallès Occidental. This category entails the strictest access measures to the natural environment and a reinforced deployment of personnel to monitor and capture wild boar.
Within this perimeter are included towns such as Badia del Vallès, Barberà del Vallès, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Montcada i Reixac, Polinyà, Ripollet, Rubí, Sabadell, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Sant Quirze del Vallès and Santa Perpètua de Mogoda , as well as several municipalities in Baix Llobregat: Molins de Rei, El Papiol, Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Sant Just Desvern and Esplugues , in addition to the city of Barcelona itself. In some cases the impact is total and in others it only affects specific areas of the municipality, such as areas bordering the park.
The outbreak has spread gradually: cases were first detected in the epicenter around the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB ) in Cerdanyola del Vallès; subsequently, the first positive cases outside the initial six-kilometer radius appeared in Molins de Rei , which led to the addition of this town and El Papiol to the area of maximum control. Shortly afterward, Sant Feliu de Llobregat and an area within Barcelona were added, until cases were detected in Sant Just Desvern and, finally, the confirmed positive case in the Barcelona metropolitan area.
To curb this spread , physical and chemical barriers have been erected to restrict the movement of wild boars, and capture drives have been increased within a 20-kilometer radius. The stated objective is to drastically reduce the wild boar population throughout the area, to the point that the regional government is considering culling all wild animals in the vicinity of the outbreak before summer if the situation warrants it.
Catalan authorities estimate that there may be between 125.000 and 180.000 wild boars across the region , a figure they consider clearly excessive due to road safety problems, crop damage, and now also the health risk associated with African swine fever (ASF). Among the measures under consideration is even extending the wild boar hunting season to accelerate population reduction.
Impact on the pig sector and economic tension
Although African swine fever (ASF) has not yet been detected on any pig farms , the sector is experiencing growing concern. Catalonia, along with Aragon, is one of the major pork-producing regions in Spain, and the mere presence of the virus in wildlife has led to export restrictions on approximately 15% of international markets—a ban that will remain in place for at least a full year from the date of the last detected case.
Industry associations, such as the National Association of Pig Farmers (Anprogapor) , warn that the situation has gone from "worrying" to "critical." Its director, Miguel Ángel Higuera, has even warned that if the spread of the virus in wild boar is not stopped now, Spain could face a situation similar to Germany's, where African swine fever (ASF) has become endemic, forcing a reduction of around 20% in the pig population and production.
This cut would have a very significant effect on the economy: the livestock and pork industry as a whole contributes between 25.000 and 30.000 billion euros to Spain's GDP. A 20% reduction could mean up to 6.000 billion euros less, with a direct impact on employment, exports, and the industrial sector. That is why the sector insists that what is at stake goes far beyond a strictly wildlife health issue.
Livestock organizations are also demanding more human and material resources for control efforts. Among their proposals is the involvement of Army or Civil Guard units to support rural agents, with the aim of significantly increasing surveillance capacity, animal capture, and access control. Meanwhile, entities such as the Swine Sanitation Group (GSP) are calling for greater involvement from all affected municipalities and for them to clearly communicate the seriousness of the situation to the public.
From the Catalan government, Òscar Ordeig defended the management of the crisis so far and noted that the government has already mobilized some 40 million euros to address various animal health crises, including avian influenza, contagious nodular dermatosis, and African swine fever (ASF). He indicated that more funds will be needed in the coming weeks to complete perimeter closures and infrastructure projects, many of which are being coordinated with agencies such as Infraestructures.cat and Adif (the Spanish railway infrastructure manager).
Origin of the outbreak, forecasts and the role of citizens
Since the beginning of the crisis, part of the technical debate has focused on the possible origin of the outbreak in Catalonia . During the first few weeks, the IRTA-CReSA research laboratory, located in Bellaterra, very close to the first detected cases, was considered a possible source. However, a genetic analysis of the virus carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture has ruled out this hypothesis : the sequencing indicates that the variant detected in wild boars does not match the samples handled at that center.
Official investigations are now focusing on an external source linked to contaminated food or products from other countries, an entry point already seen in previous outbreaks of African swine fever (ASF) in Europe. Therefore, strict adherence to biosecurity protocols on farms, in slaughterhouses, during animal transport, and in food waste management is being emphasized, especially in areas near the outbreak.
Meanwhile, the Catalan government reiterates that African swine fever (ASF) poses no risk to humans, either through contact with infected animals or through the consumption of pork or pork products. The measures being taken exclusively affect wildlife and access to the natural environment, and are intended to protect animal health and prevent further damage to the pork industry.
In practical terms, residents of the municipalities included in the high-risk zone are asked to take extreme precautions : do not feed wild boars, do not handle animal remains, avoid walking dogs off-leash in areas bordering the restricted zones, and follow all instructions from the officers controlling access. Those who regularly use Collserola for leisure are reminded that the closure has no clear end date and that the lifting of restrictions will depend on the evolution of the outbreak.
The regional minister himself has acknowledged that a solution will not be forthcoming in the short term and that the coming months will be crucial in determining whether the strategy of treating the mountain as a single unit, intensifying culling efforts, and severely restricting the movement of wild boars will be enough to contain the virus. Meanwhile, Barcelona's vast green space will remain virtually closed to recreational use, having become the epicenter of a health crisis that combines environmental, economic, and social challenges and, according to authorities, demands extra patience and responsibility from the entire affected population.
