The Muslim community celebrated the Festival of the Lamb (or Sacrifice), one of the major dates on the Islamic calendar, on 8 December, for which the Mercabarna Slaughterhouse killed some 3,700 lambs, 10% up on last year.

The president and the managing director of the El Houda-Mahdia Agricultural Services Cooperative of Tunisia visited the Mercabarna Slaughterhouse on 19 November.

Sucarn specialises in importing meat, particularly veal and lamb, from countries such as Argentina, Brazil and New Zealand. This makes it a regular user of the Border Inspection Point (BIP) at the Port of Barcelona and one of the firms most pleased by the improvements made to the service.

Marta Vallés is the new managing director of the Border Inspection Points (BIP) of Barcelona’s Port and Airport, where the sanitary controls take place for all produce and animals from third countries. For the first time, the same person now manages both facilities. Her appointment is part of a package of measures for smoothing and speeding up the operation of these services.

Mercabarna management and the board of the Barcelona and Province Fruit and Vegetable Wholesalers’ Business Association (AGEM) visited Rungis, the wholesale market of Paris (France) on 6 November.

The new Mercabarna portal began in November 2007 with the goal of becoming an online space where the public could find out about the Food Unit and the services it provides.

On 11 November, Mercabarna received a visit from Ashmed El Wakil, president of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce, the institution that manages the city’s two wholesale markets.

The Border Inspection Posts (BIPs) at the Barcelona port and airport have been working 12 hours a day, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., since October. The posts are where veterinary controls are carried out on all products from third countries and they had previously worked through only until 2 p.m.

Promoting the wide range of Mercabarna businesses that can supply the restaurant sector was the goal that led Mercabarna to take part in the Hostelco and Sandvitxfòrum trade fairs, two events directed at the hotel and restaurant sector held in Barcelona in October and November.

Albert Ubia has retired after 21 years as the head of the Mercabarna Training Area. The centre was created under his supervision in 1987, at a time when it only offered the Meat School.