An octopus statue displayed in O Carballino. Despite calling itself Spain’s ‘octopus capital’, O Carballino hasn’t sourced a single animal from local waters in a decade. — AP
AT a humming factory in the Spanish town of O Carballino, workers sling dozens of limp octopuses into a metal cauldron, wincing as strings of slime splatter their aprons.
Nearby, others slice tentacles and pack them into vacuum-sealed bags destined for restaurants and retailers across Europe, Asia and the United States – part of a growing global appetite for an animal that’s become increasingly scarce in its native waters.
