Supplies of Spanish meats such as chorizo, serrano ham and jamon iberico have started to dry up across major supermarkets, following a UK ban on Spanish pork imports due to an African swine fever outbreak last week.
Analysis of Assosia data by The Grocer shows that of the 131 cured Spanish ham lines on sale in the major multiples at the time of writing on Wednesday (3 December), a total of 42 had been out of stock for at least three days.
Introduced by Defra on 28 November, the ban temporarily halted imports of pork meat from Spain at Border Control Posts “until further notice”.
Defra announced a loosening of the ban on Tuesday afternoon, moving to regional restrictions, which will allow imports from non-affected regions to recommence.
However, meat sector insiders have warned the impact of the outbreak, coupled with that of the import ban, will continue to restrict trade flows over the coming weeks and potentially affect pricing and availability in the run-up to Christmas.
One industry source told The Grocer that officials in Spain “still haven’t got their heads around ‘patient zero’, so they can’t put a production date on restricted products”. This meant there was also uncertainty over whether product already in the UK could also be potentially exposed to the disease, added another.
Spanish authorities first confirmed an outbreak of ASF on 27 November in a small group of wild boar found in Catalonia.
The outbreak – Spain’s first since 1994 – prompted emergency measures in the key pig producing region, including the deployment of the military, and movement restrictions, though agriculture minister Luis Planas stressed on Monday that the disease had not yet been detected on pig farms.
A second update on Tuesday confirmed nine cases had been detected in wild boars, while Spanish animal health officials believe the virus could have spread to the country after the animals ate contaminated, imported food.
African swine fever has become an increasing threat to European pig herds over the past decade. It was first reported in the EU in 2014, before spreading westwards. The UK has never experienced an outbreak.
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The infectious disease is usually deadly to pigs, with no vaccine in existence, though it does not affect humans or other animal species other than pigs and wild boars.
Responding to the outbreak, National Pig Association CEO Lizzie Wilson said it was “of real concern”.
It could have a “huge impact on Spanish pig producers, with a knock-on effect on the wider EU and UK pork sectors, if Spain faces significant restrictions on exports over a prolonged period”, she warned.
The incident also “starkly highlights the huge threat posed by the ASF virus – and its continued ability to pop up anywhere at any time, in this case, as many times before, with humans undoubtedly playing a significant role”, Wilson noted.
“There was a lot of concern over the government’s handling of the foot & mouth disease outbreak in Germany earlier this year as banned commercial products reportedly continued to enter the UK after the ban was imposed,” she added.
“We urge the government to ensure there is no repeat this time – and that its systems and communications are up to scratch, so that banned product from Spain cannot get past our borders.”
An outbreak of ASF in the UK would be “catastrophic”, added Peter Hardwick, trade advisor for the British Meat Processors Association.
“We need the highest levels of biosecurity, but there are massive vested interests within EU countries with much bigger pig industries than ours which means that significant efforts are likely to be made to prevent this.”
Spain is the world’s second biggest pork exporter, with the 2.7 million tonnes exported in 2024 valued at over €8.8bn, according to industry body Interporc. In the first nine months of 2025, the UK imported 56,000 tonnes of pigmeat products from Spain, up 11% on 2024.
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