Moroccan Eid Cancellation Deals Blow to Spanish Sheep Farmers

Spanish sheep farmers were counting on the celebration of Eid al Adha in Morocco to recover from the crisis. But alas! In a public message on February 26, King Mohammed VI invited Moroccans to refrain from celebrating Eid al-adha this year due to the persistent drought that has hit the kingdom for six years, resulting in a 38% reduction in the national livestock.

The measure aims to relieve Moroccan families whose purchasing power has been considerably weakened in recent years due to the widespread inflation of the prices of basic necessities and transportation. "Its accomplishment in these difficult conditions is likely to harm large parts of Our people’s sons, particularly those with limited income," the royal message states.

This is the first time that Mohammed VI has called for the cancellation of Eid al-adha since his accession to the throne in 1999, and the fourth time in the history of the kingdom. According to data from the Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture, about 490,000 lambs were imported from Spain for Eid al-adha in 2024.

This cancellation is a setback, "even if relations with Morocco will remain essential for the future of the Spanish meat sector," warns José Friuls, director of the Spanish Association of Meat Industry Professionals (Anafric), to El Mundo. "There are fewer and fewer lambs and that’s why prices are going up for the consumer," laments Antonio Punzano, a sheep and goat farmer in the Sierra Morena (Jaén).

"The drought we have suffered until this year and the high