Milking It

Just a few decades ago the population of Barcelona depended on urban dairies or ‘vaquerías’ for its fresh milk supply. In the Forties, the city contained more than 500 enclosures, housing up to 10,000 cattle that were milked daily. Their produce was sold directly to residents in neighbourhoods across the city.

This service began in the 19th century when it became the norm for adults to consume fresh milk. Prior to this, raw milk was generally reserved for children, while adults relied on cheese, particularly cottage cheese, as their source of calcium. By the 1930s, milk was one of the most valued products amongst working families in Barcelona, but during the Spanish Civil War it became scarce, along with eggs and bread, as the city fell on hard times.

The growing popularity and demand for fresh milk was not welcomed across the board, however. Urban dairies were often housed in small enclosures at the back of buildings or in internal courtyards, forcing local businesses and residents to coexist with animals. Hygienists at the time continuously fought the presence of these city-centre dairies, arguing that livestock spread disease, attracted insects and let off a foul smell.

In 1850, La Abeja Médica Española, a medical journal published from 1846 to 1853, began a campaign against the dairy farms, calling for the prohibition of the production of raw milk in a city where epidemics were frequent and deadly. It wasn’t until 1961, however, that a law was passed to move the dairies out of the city—farmers were given 10 years to close their establishments. Despite the new law, illegal milk production continued in the city until the Eighties. One of the last dairies to be closed down was located on Passatge d’Aymà in Poblenou.

Today, numerous vestiges are still visible throughout the city, indicating the existence of the former vaquerías. In Sants, on the facade of Carrer de Sants 141, the sculpted heads of two cows protrude from a building that once sold fresh milk, while at Carrer del Carme 95 in the Raval, the former signage of an urban dairy still takes pride of place above the front entrance of the building.