Crisis and rabbit: Zapatero's Christmas recipe that fell flat

Crisis and rabbit: Zapatero's Christmas recipe that fell flat

Remember when the government told you what to have for dinner? In December 2007, with the first storm clouds of the financial crisis gathering over Spain, the Secretary General of Agriculture, Josep Puxeu, launched the campaign "Rabbit meat, exquisite and light". The idea: for Spaniards to swap the traditional Christmas lamb for rabbit, which was cheaper. The reaction was immediate and scathing.

Official penny-pinching

The term "lonchafinismo" —extreme austerity, cutting back on quality of life— became part of the debate. The government's recommendation was not seen as healthy advice, but as a survival manual for lean times. The data, however, pointed to a more complex reality: according to the industry's own sources, the price of rabbit that Christmas was lower than the year before, while feed costs had skyrocketed. The farmers saw nothing to celebrate.

When logic beats a bright idea, the outcome is predictable. The campaign failed to change consumption habits, but it did spawn endless jokes —some with double entendres— and a scepticism that still echoes every December.

The rabbit bubble and other prophecies

Some predicted that if rabbit became popular, a food bubble would form: supply would fall short, prices would soar and the product would become unaffordable. Twelve years on, rabbit remains a moderately consumed meat, and its price has not seen the volatility of other staples. The lesson is less culinary than political: when the State tries to regulate the Christmas menu, the citizen responds with an ironic pen.

Final irony: after the storm, rabbit is still exquisite and light. But on Spanish dinner tables, with few exceptions, lamb still wins. And official recommendations, then as now, are taken with a pinch of salt.

Related discussions in the forum

• Penny-pinching in electricity · 19 replies