For over four generations, the Tubau family has farmed in Pardines (Ripollès), their lives deeply tied to the rhythms of nature and an increasingly unpredictable climate. These are uncertain times—this year, for the first time in a decade, they could not complete their usual transhumance to Cap de Creus, partly due to drought in the Empordà.
This photo essay captures the profound changes they have faced. At the Tubau Livestock Farm, they care for 200 cows, 8 bulls, 40 calves, 20 mares, 2 horses, and 5 foals.
In the photograph, the Tubau family; from left to right: Josep Morera, Jordi Morera, Antònia Tarruella, Joan Morera and Jaume Morera.
Jaume Morera
"All my roots are from Pardines," says Jaume Morera Tarruella (57). He has two sisters. He lives in Can Tubau, with his parents, his partner Daise and two children from his first marriage, Josep (22) and Jordi (20). The whole family contributes to the daily tasks of managing the farmhouse.
Jaume Morera
"All my roots are from Pardines," says Jaume Morera Tarruella (57). He has two sisters. He lives in Can Tubau, with his parents, his partner Daise and two children from his first marriage, Josep (22) and Jordi (20). The whole family contributes to the daily tasks of managing the farmhouse.
Before, 20 cows per family were enough
In 1970, of the 193 inhabitants of Pardines, the vast majority were farmers. 27 families were farmers and today, however, only 5 farmers remain. Of the current 130 inhabitants, 5 are farmers. Jaume Morera explains: "Before, a family had much less expenses and made do with a few cows. There were no refrigerators, no heating. Now the expenses are eating us up. With 20 cows per family it was enough, because we ate the pork, the potatoes we picked, the wheat. Now, everything has changed. There is machinery, diesel, tractors, cars. Before, in the whole town there were 3 cars, now each house has 4. Now you don't get by with 20 cows, you need much more livestock per family, because the expenses are eating you up. That's why the population has been decreasing."
The ancestors
"Can Tubau was bought by my maternal great-grandfather, when here, in the village, there were four shops, two or three bars, a school, the Civil Guard. There was much more life, many more people. And people lived with much less, they ate what they produced and that was it. Women worked eight hours in factories, men on farms, and children at school." In the photograph, from left to right: Miquel Tarruella Sabina Perpinyà, Antònia Tarruella, Joan Morera. Seated: Antonio Tarruella and Maria Casas.
"Forty years with the same price"
"We sell the product at the same price as forty years ago. The calves were worth 90,000 pesetas, about 540 euros. And now we sell them for between 500 euros and 600. But forty years have passed, and as much as the standard of living has risen, the calves should be worth 2,000 euros. And the steaks in the store should be worth three times more. That's why there are subsidies."
The Heiress of Can Tubau
Antònia Tarruella (1942) and Joan Morera (1939) will celebrate sixty years of marriage tomorrow. Antònia Tarruella was the daughter of Can Tubau, and had a younger sister. Her grandfather had bought the farmhouse after the 1936-1939 war. Her sister went to live in Ribes. Her father had three hundred sheep. Joan Morera lived in Pardines.
Can Tubau
Ramaderia Tubau was born as a company with Raquel Serrat, ex-wife of Jaume Morera, married for twenty-five years. At Can Tubau they have organic cows, calves and foals always raised in freedom, they feed on their mothers' milk, on the grass of the mountains. In the summer, they graze in Ripollès, in the winter, in Empordà. But the drought in Empordà has meant that, for the first time in ten years, they have had to remain in Ripollès, where they are given cereals and fodder. In the image, a cow eats fodder.
Grandpa Joan Morera
“My grandfather, my father, and then I ran the farm. My father had sheep, and I had cows. Pardines had once had 12,000 sheep. And now, none. Sheep were very expensive, and we gradually added more cows. In Pardines, every family had sheep. The winters were very hard because of the snow, because of the weather, it was much colder than it is now, and there was no pasture for so many sheep.”
Goodbye to the dairy cow
In the 1980s, the price of cow's milk dropped a lot, and everyone stopped milking. They went from dairy cows to beef cows: "The cycle of our cattle is to be born here, graze in the mountains, wean, go to organic fattening in a stable, and then, make meat from it. Now all the cattle up here are beef." In the image, an empty milking stable.
The man of transhumance
Jaume Batlle Bonada is sixty-four years old, and is from Serrat (Ripollès). He has one hundred and fifteen cows. He has been transhumancing to Cap de Creus (Empordà) for forty-eight years. He rents a flat in Cadaqués with his wife and looks after both his cows and those of Can Tubau. This year, due to the drought, there is currently not enough pasture in Empordà and he has stayed here. From 1935 to 1955, the men did the transhumance to Vallès, Penedès and Empordà. They went from October to May. His grandfather would go, and his grandmother would stay there with four hens. The grandfather would occasionally send money to his wife. And in May, they all went up to Pardines. Until now, the transhumance was done by trucks, and before that, on foot. This year, they have not done any.
Bails at the price of gold
A cow eats forage bought from Aragón and the French state. “Before, we used to pay 130 or 140 euros per ton, and now we pay 210. Plus the rent for the fields in Empordà, which we still have to pay despite the drought. Out of the 250 cows, we usually take 120 to Cap de Creus because it's much cheaper. Here, a cow costs 2 euros per day, whereas there, it’s only 50 cents, including grazing and the cost of trucks to transport them. Here, we have to give them bales like these. And these bales, which used to cost 40 euros, now cost 80.”
For the first time, foals in the mountains in the middle of winter
"We have about twenty mares, which we have always liked, but they are not very profitable. People find it more difficult to consume, the foal meat. For the first time, this year the foals have grazed up here, because it has not been as cold as before. We had them locked up. This year, not." In the image, mares in Orri Vell.
If There Were No Electric Fencing, There Would Be No Farmers
"The problem with not having sheep is the issue of fencing. With sheep, you need a shepherd, someone to watch over them and control them. On the other hand, with cows, we put up electric fencing, and that’s it. Sheep go underneath it, and their wool protects them."
In the image: Jaume Morera (right) with a fence around his neck, next to Jaume Batlle.
Cows for fattening
Cows gestate for nine months. “The cows we have now give birth in February, March and April. They are in heat in May, June and July, which is when there is more pasture in the mountains, and they are better fed.” In the image, cows being fattened in Ribes Altes, where the Tubaus are taking them.
The Veterinarian Who Saves Farmers from Bureaucracy
Irina Orriols (40), a licensed veterinarian, manages livestock farms for Pirenat. She also works closely with Jaume from Can Tubau, whom she first met at fourteen. “If you want to be a vet, you need to try it before committing,” her father once advised her.
Beyond animal care, Irina handles the complex bureaucracy for Can Tubau—a role once managed by Jaume’s ex-wife. “The average farmer is over fifty, and everything is now done through apps and software… Well, Jaume from Can Tubau doesn’t even own a computer.”
The carcasses at Pirenat
Pirenat is the largest distributor of organic meat, and is where the meat from Ramaderia Tubau ends up. Pirenat was born in 2007 in Ribes de Freser thanks to Enric Camprubí, a farmer. At Pirenat they receive the carcasses (as they call the dead cow) and they make the steaks, hamburgers, minced meat and then package it.
The future
Jordi Morena Serrat (20), on the right, has been working as a farmer for two years. At eighteen he went to Vic to work with milking cows, but since he likes machinery, he has returned to work with his father and brother because there was the possibility of working with large tractors.
The free pasture
Free-range animals give farmers less work and cost less money. This foal grazes in Orri Vell, where Jaume Morera goes up once a month and brings them salt. Cattle need salt because they usually lack it in their herbivorous diet.
Grass, only for calves
The little grass that is available is kept for the calves and pregnant cows. They move the wire to prevent other cows from getting there. In the image, a three-week-old calf eats fresh grass.
Drought, what drought?
This year, farmers in Alt Ripollès have not been able to collect insurance for loss of pasture due to drought because the insurer only compensates points in Alt and Baix Empordà, Cerdanya and Baix Ripollès, officially in drought. Alt Ripollès, on the other hand, has been excluded. In the image, the Can Mauri fountain, on February 29. No water is flowing from it.
The growing future
Josep Morera Serrat (22) has been working as a farmer for four years. He worked with his father, but in May of last year he bought sixty cows from Carme de Cal Gandaiet, when she retired, he bought the Can Vinyes estate, about forty-five hectares.
Festival for half-saved transhumance
Finally, the March rain allows a few cows to go on transhumance. Jaume Morera and his family celebrate at the restaurant Can Manel. “We bring forty cows and twenty-five calves down to Roses. And Jaume Batlle brings about eighty to Cap de Creus.” Morera will now live in Cadaqués with his wif`e for the next few months. (From left to right, on March 18: Joan Morera, Daise Duran, Jaume Morera, Martí Campos, Ramon Carbonell, Francisco Tubau. On the other side, Jaume Batlle, Tatiana, Arnau Carbonell, Josep Morera, Jordi Morera and Mariona.)
Loaded
Thirty-five cows fit in the trucks and are ready to start the road trip back to the farm.
Arrival home
A cow that belongs to Jordi and Albert Ravetllar arrives in La Cerdanya, in the Nau del Po. It is the final destination after four months of high mountain grazing, a tria, and three hours on the road. It's six o'clock in the afternoon. The cows will graze here until Christmas, when they will be moved to the Empordà during the colder months of winter.