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TRADITIONAL LIVESTOCK FARMING
Black Mallorcan pigs by a well.
Climatic factors mean that there is a lack of natural pastures, and this has impeded the development of livestock farming, which has traditionally been secondary to arable farming.

Pigs and pork products

The Mallorcan pig is black, with light or slate-grey shading. This pigmentation is appropriate for the island's climate, as it means that the animal has more protection from solar rays. However, the traditional white pig is more common on the island due to the production of high quality sausage products that is carried out.


Pigs have always been important in rural life, and indeed still are. The salty meat (off the bone, or bacon) and sausage products such as sobrasada (Mallorcan sausage), botifarrons, (Catalan sausage), camaiot (mixed sausage) and blanquets (sausage made from lard and pine kernels), are local delicacies. It was almost the only type of meat that was eaten by country dwellers during much of the year, and it is not at all surprising that it has such an important role within Mallorcan gastronomy. The festival of the slaughter of pigs is an important event in the winter calendar in rural Mallorca, and families get together on the day of the slaughter to make a celebration out of it. Most of the meat is used for sausage production, and absolutely everything that can be used in processing is taken advantage of. Once the work is finished, the feast begins; in past times, the celebration included music and dancing, but this part of the tradition has fallen by the wayside. This celebration is still very much alive, and even families who don't work the land often fatten up a pig throughout the year, or buy one that is ready fattened, so as to slaughter it for the festival. The meat for the top quality sausages that are available on the island is thereby obtained, especially for sobrasada, which is eaten throughout the year. It is unlikely that this event will be kept going for much longer, because as the people who lived in the rural Mallorca prior to the tourist boom of the 1960s leave us, the tradition will decline. The current diet, in which fresh meat is a key part, has taken away a lot of the importance of sausage products as a source of protein, and in addition to this, the majority of the current generations have not been brought up in the way of the land and its working practices.

Sheep and goats
Sheep are the most typical animal of the Mallorcan landscape and it can be spotted grazing in the fields between orchards. In times gone by there were shepherds who watched over the sheep while they grazed, sometimes leading the flocks on a transhumant course from one pasture to another. This animal provides wool for the production of textiles, a product of little market value; milk for cheese production; and meat is obtained from lambs, which is without doubt the most highly valued product, coming as it does from animals that feed exclusively on natural pastures. However, despite all this, sheep farming is dependent on public subsidies for its continued survival, whilst at the same time, the hotel industry imports large quantities of lamb from places such as Australia and New Zealand at prices much lower than those of Mallorcan lamb.

In the past, goats were kept in every rural home, serving as an animal that could provide both milk and meat. Nowadays consumption of goat products is uncommon and it is rare to see a herd of goats. They are most commonly found in the mountain areas of the island, and it is occasionally possible to see wild ones.

Horses, mules and donkeys
These were the draught animals used for transportation. Many agricultural tasks depended on the force of these animals, such as the working of wells to obtain water, the operation of animal driven mills for grinding, and the performance of many tasks in the fields. With the onset of mechanisation, the use of these animals fell into decline; in fact this happened to such an extent that there is now a recovery plan for the Mallorcan donkey, which finds itself in danger of extinction. The situation for horses is somewhat different, this being due to the success enjoyed by equestrian activities, especially chariot racing in Palma and Manacor.
Oxen
There is an indigenous breed of ox that is still found on the island, and which is thought to be possibly related to a breed from the island of Sardinia. It was used for agricultural tasks, with the castrated male being particularly heavily employed on the land. It wasn't used for consumption until the First World War, when both its milk and meat entered the diet. It is currently becoming extinct, this being due to the fact that agricultural machinery has taken over work involving tractive force and that its productivity in terms of milk and meat is below that of other breeds. It is possible to see this animal at the Parque Natural de S'Albufera.
A peasant leading a Mallorcan ox

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