Agriculture adapts the zones and controls for bluetongue

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has published Order APA/1082/2026, of October 7, establishing specific protection measures regarding bluetongue. The provision appears in the Official State Gazette (Boletín Oficial del Estado) no. 255, of October 14, 2026, section I, and will enter into force on November 1, 2026. The new order repeals Order APA/229/2025, of March 10, and nullifies the Resolution of September 16, 2025, of the Directorate General for Health of Agri-food Production and Animal Welfare.

Bluetongue, or ovine catarrhal fever, is a notifiable disease in the European Union and is listed in the Terrestrial Animal Health Code of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH). The trigger for the change is the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/169, of January 26, 2026, which amends the annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1882 and classifies bluetongue as a category D+E disease as of November 1, with a more flexible regulatory framework aligned with epizootic hemorrhagic disease.

The order is issued under Article 8 and the fifth final provision of Law 8/2003, of April 24, on animal health, and has the status of basic regulation pursuant to Article 149.1, rule 16, of the Spanish Constitution. During its drafting, the autonomous communities, Ceuta, Melilla, and the affected sectors were consulted.

Three categories of territory

Article 3 reorganizes the national map into three types of zones, the specific delimitation of which will be approved by a resolution published in the Official State Gazette:

• Free zone: the autonomous community of the Canary Islands.
• Zone subject to a control and eradication program against the different serotypes of the virus: the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands.
• Zone without status: the entire peninsular territory.

The Sole Additional Provision empowers the Director General for Health of Agri-food Production and Animal Welfare to approve and modify this delimitation based on notifications and information submitted by the autonomous communities. The preamble justifies the differentiated treatment of the archipelagos due to their epidemiological situation and insular nature, with an absence of current circulation in the Canary Islands.

Mandatory vaccination in the Balearics and voluntary elsewhere

Article 4 authorizes voluntary vaccination against the virus throughout the national territory and for all detected serotypes, except in zones subject to a control and eradication program, where it will be mandatory on cattle and sheep holdings. The autonomous communities may also impose it within their territory without this implying a restriction on animal movements.

Vaccination is the responsibility of the holding owner through veterinary personnel, never using live attenuated vaccines, and requires recording the type of vaccine, serotype, and date in the General Register of Individual Animal Identification (RIIA) for cattle and in the registration book when electronic identification is not available. The data must be notified to the competent authority within a maximum period of seven days from each dose.

Animal movements and reproductive material

Within zones without status, the competent authority will authorize the movement of susceptible species, destined for live use or slaughter, provided that the animals do not show clinical signs. For movements destined for live use toward a free zone or a zone with a program, the requirements of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/688, of December 17, 2019, shall apply.

Article 7 refers to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/686 for national movements of semen, oocytes, and embryos of susceptible species. Non-compliance with the order will be penalized according to the regime of infringements and sanctions of Law 8/2003, of April 24.

Impact on the sector

The regulation arrives while the livestock sector awaits the resolution that will establish the municipal boundaries included in each zone, a decisive element for the movement of sheep and cattle and for intra-community trade. The European flexibility regarding the category of the disease does not eliminate vaccination and registration obligations; therefore, cattle and sheep farmers must keep the traceability of each dose up to date in the RIIA or in the holding register.

Source: Official State Gazette, no. 255, of October 14, 2026, section I. General provisions, p. 136670 (official reference: BOE-A-2026-21319).