The Iberian breed: a rustic animal with a unique metabolism.

Physiologically, the Iberian pig has a characteristic and clearly differentiated aspect from the white pig.

It is an animal that has a light skeleton and lively movement, with very long and thin but resistant legs.

Its metabolism produces less muscle and more fat than other breeds and it is able to infiltrate the proteins and oleic acids of the acorn into its muscle tissue like no other animal. It is also characterized by being a breed that needs more food than others to gain weight.

Lineages of the Cerdo Ibérico

The Iberian race is made up of several lineages that are grouped into two main varieties according to the characteristic color of their skin: black and red.

Both are distributed between the grazing areas of Extremadura, Andalucía and the two Castillas.

BLACK

The pigs of the black varieties are thinner and smaller than those of the colored ones, but with a greater predisposition to accumulate fat and with a faster growth rate. In their origins they were based mainly in Cáceres, Badajoz and Córdoba.

LAMPIÑO: Its bacon is thicker and has more fat. The products obtained from this variety are of high quality, with a good conformation of the carcass.

ENTREPELADO: These are pigs with an excellent conformation and a more stretched line that give less fat carcasses than the lampiño blacks. It has a worse performance in mountain range than the black lampiño, due to its deficient behavior in grazing.

COLORADO

They are well adapted varieties. They have good capacity for growth and good performance in the carcass. Its proportion of muscle is greater than the other Iberian varieties.

MANCHADA: also called Jabugo, it was raised in the northern Sierra of Huelva. Blonde with irregularly distributed black or dark gray spots. It is almost extinct.

RETINTA: It is the most widespread of all the Iberian varieties. Its color can vary from a light cinnamon to a dark red or red.

TORBISCAL: It is the most current variety, the result of hybridization experiments initiated in the 40s in Toledo. They have a variable skin color, which can be light or dark.

RUBIA CAMPIÑESA: semi-fat type variety with very silky bristles. They have well developed and muscular hams. It is located in Cádiz, Córdoba and Seville. It’s practically gone.