The hospitality and restaurant sector in southern Gran Canaria faces a period of extreme economic hardship following the European Commission's announcement of a complete ban on the import of meat and animal products from Brazil, effective September 3rd. The EU decision, adopted by the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed due to the excessive use of antibiotics, antimicrobials, and prohibited substances such as estradiol, deals a direct blow to a hospitality market that is critically dependent on this South American supplier. With 70% of the chicken and beef consumed in southern Gran Canaria coming from Brazilian slaughterhouses, bars, restaurants, chicken rotisseries, and other hospitality businesses in tourist areas like Maspalomas, El Tablero, San Fernando, and Playa del Inglés are bracing for an imminent surge in the prices of their main raw materials.
Alternative suppliers such as Argentina, Uruguay, and Australia for beef, or Thailand, Ukraine, and China for poultry, will hardly be able to immediately absorb and compensate for the volume left vacant by Brazil in southern Gran Canaria. For hospitality professionals in Maspalomas, this scenario translates into a drastic narrowing of profit margins, forcing them to rethink their menu cost structure for the autumn tourist season.
The operational impact on hospitality establishments in southern Gran Canaria will be direct and immediate. Operators and importers are already warning that the drastic reduction in supply will force them to seek alternatives in other meat distribution centers, a shift that will significantly increase the price of essential cuts for restaurants, such as chicken breast and prime beef. Owners of chicken rotisseries and local restaurants have expressed their deep concern about a structural dependence that is now being broken by a legal mandate from Brussels. Large distribution chains with a strong presence in the Canary Islands, such as Makro, have begun liquidating their stocks from the South American giant, given the impossibility of replenishing them once the summer season is over.
The measure, adopted just weeks after the entry into force of the trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur—comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay—has been welcomed by national agricultural and meat industry associations such as Asoprovac and Anice. These business organizations indicate that the decision responds to repeated complaints about deficiencies in Brazilian sanitary controls. For its part, the Lula da Silva government has expressed its complete surprise at the veto and is already working to try to reverse a ban that halts agri-food exports to the EU valued at billions of euros annually.
