Corporate and household austerity has hit sales of Spanish ham, among the country's most emblematic delicacies, and shown that pigs, too, can form an asset bubble.
According to industry representatives, Christmas sales this year of the traditional leg of acorn-fed Iberian pig, or jamón de bellota , could be down 20 per cent, or up to 40 per cent for the year.
Other, cheaper preparations have also been hit by cutbacks in corporate Christmas hampers and household consumption, driving down wholesale and retail prices by up to half.
With more than 25m pigs, Spain vies with Germany for the European Union's largest porcine population, and is among its most important consumers and exporters of pork meat products. Of the total population, about 20 per cent are "Iberian" pigs, an indigenous breed renowned for the quality of its meat.
