Nueva Pescanova 's ambitious plan to build the world's first large-scale octopus farm has fallen through. The Galician multinational has informed the Port Authority of Las Palmas that it is relinquishing its concession to occupy the La Esfinge dock, where it intended to construct a cephalopod breeding and fattening facility. The project, announced in 2021, had generated intense ethical and environmental debate from its inception.
With this move, the Port Authority will proceed with the definitive closure of the file, opened in May 2021. The company justifies its withdrawal on purely bureaucratic grounds , arguing that the new requirements of the Regional Environmental Assessment Commission substantially altered the conditions, deadlines, and scope of the initial project. However, the company clarifies that this decision does not imply an admission of the technical or environmental infeasibility of the initiative, and leaves the door open to studying alternatives in the future.
Goodbye to the project for the first industrial octopus farm
The planned investment exceeded €50 million, and the farm would occupy a plot of more than 52.000 square meters in the port of Gran Canaria. The goal was to achieve an annual production of 3.000 tons of octopus , representing more than 10% of the national consumption of this cephalopod. The facility would consist of two large buildings: one for breeding, rearing, and fattening, and another for processing and storage. The breeding octopuses would initially arrive from Galicia, but the Canary Islands plant aimed to be self-sufficient within five years.
The choice of the Port of Las Palmas was not accidental. The natural conditions of the Canary Islands allowed for the extraction of seawater from a depth of 16 meters , saving on energy costs, since the water temperature eliminated the need for heating, something that would have increased production costs in other locations such as Galicia. The plot also offered more than five contiguous hectares, direct access to the sea, and proximity to port terminals for export.
The reasons for the withdrawal
According to the document submitted to the Port Authority, the turning point came when the Regional Environmental Assessment Commission mandated that the project undergo a full Environmental Assessment , a much more rigorous process than the simplified procedure the company had anticipated. This requirement aimed to thoroughly investigate potential adverse effects such as the deterioration of port water quality due to organic discharges and the risk of foul odors. Furthermore, in January 2026, the Canary Islands Government declared the project's discharge permit expired, and the company had also failed to submit the Environmental Impact Statement required since 2023.
The company maintains that these circumstances, while not affecting the project's environmental viability, have substantially altered the conditions, scope, timelines, and regulatory requirements of the initial proposal. Therefore, the company has expressly decided to withdraw its application for a concession, without prejudice to the possibility of analyzing other technical, environmental, or locational alternatives in the future.
Reactions and social mobilization
The withdrawal of the project cannot be understood without considering the intense opposition it generated from its announcement. More than 42.000 emails arrived in the inbox of the Port Authority president , Beatriz Calzada, demanding the project be shelved. The #BanOctopusFarming campaign, spearheaded by organizations such as AnimaNaturalis, Compassion in World Farming, and Eurogroup for Animals, gathered more than 160.000 signatures. Pressure intensified in recent weeks, with an in-person protest planned for July 25th in front of the port, which ultimately proved unnecessary as the company preempted it.
The Animalist Party PACMA also celebrated the decision, highlighting that the sustained mobilization of civil society and the pressure exerted for years by animal rights, environmental, and scientific organizations were decisive. The party submitted objections supported by more than one hundred organizations and specialists, warning of deficiencies in the environmental documentation and the risks associated with the dumping and consumption of marine resources.
Ethical and environmental implications
The scientific community and environmental groups had been warning for years that Octopuses are exceptionally intelligent, sentient, and solitary animals.This makes intensive captive breeding unfeasible. A report by Compassion in World Farming estimated that the farm would have needed up to 28.000 tons. de peces These animals are killed in their first year of operation, putting additional pressure on already overexploited marine populations. Furthermore, there is no method of slaughter that guarantees they will not suffer pain and distress.
Confinement in grow-out tanks posed a risk of severe stress, cannibalism, and chronic suffering. The organization described the octopus as a species "fundamentally unsuitable" for aquaculture . Added to this were the risks of spills, the use of chemicals, CO2 emissions, and the possibility that individuals with impaired capabilities due to captivity might be accidentally released into the sea, disrupting the balance of wild populations.
The future of octopus aquaculture
The closure of the Nueva Pescanova mega-farm does not definitively close the door on this type of operation. The company has made it clear that it is not ruling out studying other technical, environmental, or locational alternatives in the future. However, public pressure has led to the introduction of a bill in Congress to prohibit the intensive farming of octopuses for consumption throughout Spain. The initiative, promoted by INTERCIDS and supported by members of parliament from Sumar, ERC, and Podemos, would amend the 1984 Marine Aquaculture Law.
Countries like the United States and Chile have already banned or are considering banning this type of exploitation. In Spain, the legislative response has been underway for over a year , and the proposed law is expected to be considered by the full Congress soon. Organizations like AnimaNaturalis insist that only a national law can prevent new octopus farm projects anywhere in Spain.
The withdrawal of Nueva Pescanova marks a milestone in the fight for animal welfare and environmental protection, but it does not guarantee that similar initiatives will not emerge in the future. Citizen mobilization and public scrutiny have proven to be effective tools for halting controversial projects, but the scientific community and activists agree that the definitive solution lies in legal regulations that prohibit intensive octopus farming. Meanwhile, the dismissal of the case at the Port of Las Palmas closes one chapter, but leaves the debate open regarding the limits of industrial aquaculture.
