Macro-farm of 1,309 sows authorized in Ortigosa de Pestaño

The General Directorate of Environmental Policy of the Junta de Castilla y León has issued a favorable environmental impact statement for a pig farming project consisting of 1,309 sows with piglets in the municipality of Ortigosa de Pestaño (Segovia), promoted by Rodrigo Bartolomé Peromingo. The resolution, dated October 29, 2026, and signed by the general director José Guirao Sola, is published in the Official Gazette of Castilla y León number 217, dated November 10, 2026, with the reference BOCYL-D-10112026-217-18. The favorable ruling is limited to environmental effects and does not exempt the project from environmental authorization or urban planning licenses.

Administrative framework and scope of the resolution

The file, processed under number EIAO/2025/SG/002, is subject to environmental evaluation as it is included in Annex I of Law 21/2013, of December 9, for facilities with more than 750 breeding sow places, and to the environmental authorization regime according to Royal Legislative Decree 1/2016. Competence lies with the Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Environment, and Environmental Policy and is decentralized within the general directorate; the proposal was formulated by the Environmental, Urbanism, and Territorial Planning Council of Castilla y León.

The initial application entered the Territorial Delegation of the Junta in Segovia on May 31, 2023, with a basic project and environmental impact study from May of that year. The public information process was announced in the Official Gazette of Castilla y León number 189, dated October 1, 2025, and no objections were submitted.

From 526 to 1,309 breeding sows

The project does not consist of a new farm, but rather a change in zootechnical orientation and an expansion of buildings on an existing farm on plots 286 and 5120 of polygon 1 (an area of 74,931 square meters). The capacity increases from 368.36 to 407.45 LSU (Livestock Units):

• 1,309 sows with piglets up to 6 kg, compared to the previous 526.
• 2,620 piglets from 6 to 20 kg, compared to 1,152.
• 190 replacement gilts, compared to 23.
• 4 boars, which remain.
• The 1,500 fattening pigs listed in the previous situation are removed.

The construction of an additional 3,637.28 square meters is planned, reaching a total of 10,757.44 built square meters, including a new farrowing house and another for gestation, the interior adaptation of warehouses 6 to 9, and a slurry lagoon of 4,725 cubic meters. Estimated consumption is 12,124 cubic meters of water per year and 1,150,720 kWh.

Slurry, nitrates, and odors: the conditions

The operation is located approximately 1,017 meters from the town center of Ortigosa de Pestaño, 1,100 meters from Santa María la Real de Nieva, and about 30 meters from the San Benito stream, within the Vulnerable Sandy Zone ZV-AR designated by Decree 5/2020, of June 25. It will generate 8,249.58 cubic meters of manure annually, with 20,203.29 kilos of applicable nitrogen.

The conditions require:

• Managing at least 70% of the slurry through nitrogen reduction systems, preferably anaerobic digestion in a biogas plant.
• Allocating the remaining 30% to agricultural recovery, with a maximum of 30% of the nitrogen permitted by Order MAV/398/2022 and application only three months prior to sowing.
• Expanding the manure pit, whose capacity of 2,138 cubic meters covers 6.99 months and is insufficient compared to the nine required; the lagoons total 5,923 cubic meters, for 13.15 months.
• Installing three control piezometers and conducting prior groundwater analysis.
• Covering the slurry lagoon and applying the best available techniques against odors, with the possibility of imposing a management plan if neighborhood nuisances are detected.
• Processing the concession for the water borehole and communicating the start of the activity.

Favorable reports and administrative silences

The Duero Hydrographic Confederation, the Civil Protection and Emergencies Agency, the Territorial Environment Service of Segovia, and the territorial services of Culture, Mobility, Agriculture, and Health reported in favor of or without objection to the project. The Provincial Council of Segovia did not submit any allegations, and the Government Sub-delegation in Segovia declined to issue a technical report.

The City Council of Ortigosa de Pestaño, Ecologistas en Acción Castilla y León, and Ecologistas en Acción Segovia did not respond to the inquiry.

The declaration will lose its validity if execution does not begin within four years of its publication.

The resolution clears the main environmental uncertainty of a project that had been in processing for more than three years and which directly affects the municipality: the residents and livestock farmers of the region now know the limits under which the farm will operate, while environmental organizations retain the path of environmental authorization and urban planning licenses to monitor the conditions imposed on slurry and odors.

Source: Official Gazette of Castilla y León, no. 217, November 10, 2026, section I. D. Other Provisions, pp. 164-186 (official reference: BOCYL-D-10112026-217-18).