More than half of young Spaniards want to leave the country for work abroad, according to an analysis published by the Foundation for Economic Education, which highlights a youth unemployment crisis that's creating severe shortages in the nation's veterinary profession. The report examines how poor wages and difficult working conditions are pushing qualified professionals away from rural areas, threatening Spain's position as the EU's largest livestock exporter and raising serious concerns about animal welfare standards.
Spanish veterinarians earn an average of €26,000 ($30,100) annually, well below the European Union average of €38,500 ($44,600), the report notes, citing data from the Federation of European Veterinarians. Pet specialists, who make up 55% of all Spanish vets, face even lower compensation at €18,844 ($21,800) after five years of intensive university training. Large animal veterinarians working with livestock earn more at €31,646 ($36,650), but represent only 15% of the profession. Spain's overall youth unemployment particularly affects those aged 15–25, with nearly a quarter currently out of work. Among those under 34 who do find jobs, 28.9% work in roles unrelated to their studies—the highest mismatch rate in Europe compared to the EU average of 20.4% and Germany's 8.5%. Meanwhile, approximately 90% of Spain's 49.8 million people now live on just 30% of the land, leaving vast interior regions depopulated and underserved.
The veterinary shortage is already causing economic damage in Spain's rural heartland, known as España vaciada or "empty Spain." The report describes how the Slaughterhouse Association of Castile and León reports that some facilities have cut operational hours by up to 45% due to lack of available vets for required supervisory roles. Spain exports more than 5 million tons of livestock annually, representing 26% of the EU's total, with Castile and León alone providing roughly 12% of meat sold in Spanish supermarkets each year. Gonzalo Moreno, president of the Spanish Veterinary Organisation, explains that "there are fewer and fewer of us, colleagues face a heavier workload, they have to visit more farms and drive more kilometers every day." Although only 5% of Spanish vets have worked abroad, 60% of those who did left because of poor working conditions at home.
The lack of veterinary oversight is enabling violations of animal welfare regulations, the report warns, despite EU and Spanish laws requiring every slaughterhouse operation to be supervised by a vet. A 2009 EU directive mandates that animals be stunned before slaughter, but animal welfare charities have documented severe breaches. The report details how Igualdad Animal has taken legal action against a facility near Segovia for failing to stun 200 deer, shooting them in cramped pens where they witnessed other animals' deaths, and hoisting some deer by their rear legs while still alive. Another group, ARDE, reported a Teruel pig farm bearing the "Welfair" quality stamp where investigators found animals living with rotting carcasses, suffering from untreated abscesses, and carrying viruses transferable to humans. While an EU Commission audit from September–October 2025 found Spanish slaughterhouse practices "mostly effective," it noted that the sanctions system was too slow and provided "insufficient deterrent for non-compliant operators."
The report argues that addressing veterinary shortages won't solve all the problems facing Spain's depopulated interior, where many villages lack basic infrastructure and have populations under 1,000. But vets remain essential to preventing the abuses documented in Segovia and Teruel from becoming standard practice across the industry. Without better pay and working conditions to attract professionals to rural areas, Spain risks both economic losses in its vital livestock sector and a collapse of animal welfare enforcement that could turn isolated scandals into systemic failures.