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The photographical reproduction of this work is covered under the article 35.2 of the Royal Legislative Decree 1/1996 of April 12, 1996 , and amended by Law 5/1998 of March 6, 1998 , which states that: Works permanently

Vianesa

A dark brown beef breed from Galicia, kept in small herds

Photo: Ocarteiro, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Vianesa is a dark brown, horned beef breed from Galicia in north-western Spain, named after Viana do Bolo or the comarca of Viana. It belongs to the Morena Galega group of dark brown Galician cattle and is classed as endangered, with just under 3000 head on 56 farms in 2022.

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  • Horned beef breed with a dark brown coat, darkest at the extremities
  • Cows about 132 cm at the withers, bulls about 138 cm
  • Bulls weigh 850 kg or 913 kg; cows 560 kg or 593 kg
  • Just under 3000 head on 56 farms in 2022, nearly all in Galicia
  • DAD-IS 2023 status: at risk/endangered-maintained

What do Vianesa cattle look like?

The Vianesa is a taurine beef breed: humpless Bos taurus, with horns. Its coat is dark brown, darkest at the extremities, and bulls carry a deeper shade than cows. In some animals the brown breaks into patches of other shades, and those patterns have names of their own. A cow stands about 132 cm at the withers, a bull about 138 cm. Weights are recorded in two ways: 560 kg or 593 kg for cows, 850 kg or 913 kg for bulls. The cattle are reared for meat.

Where does the Vianesa come from?

The breed belongs to Galicia, in north-western Spain. Its name comes either from Viana do Bolo, a municipality in Ourense province in the south-east of Galicia close to the northern Portuguese border, or from the comarca of Viana that contains it. The Vianesa is one of the dark brown Galician cattle gathered under the name Morena Galega, or Morenas del Noroeste, roughly 'the dark-browns of the north-west'. The other members are the Limiana (Limiá), the Frieiresa, the Caldelana (Caldelá) and the Cachena. Galicia's regional government, the Xunta, has run a conservation programme for the group since 1990.

How the Vianesa is bred and kept

A breeding programme for the Vianesa is issued by Spain's agriculture ministry, which sets out the standard for the breed. The cattle are kept on farms: in 2022 they were found on 56 holdings, nearly all of them in Galicia, with about 80 animals on one farm in Castilla y León. The breed sits inside the Morena Galega group, for which Galicia's regional government has run a conservation scheme since 1990.

Vianesa, drawn

The breed dark brown and brown, drawn with a beef build, short horns. Drawn from this page, not a portrait of one animal.
1701300
Size: Large 125 to 135 cm at the withers, beside a person 170 cm tall. cows about 132 cm and 560 kg or 593 kg; bulls about 138 cm and 850 kg or 913 kg.
dark brownbrown
Coat the colours named for this breed.
Lineage Taurine cattle. Horns: horned.

What the Vianesa is kept for

The Vianesa is a beef breed, reared for meat. Bulls are the heavier sex, at 850 kg or 913 kg and about 138 cm at the withers; cows reach 560 kg or 593 kg and stand around 132 cm. Herds are small and mostly Galician, with a single group of about 80 head kept on a farm in Castilla y León. The horns and the dark brown coat are the breed's visible marks.

The land and climate of the Vianesa

The Vianesa's home is Galicia, the autonomous community in Spain's north-west. The municipality of Viana do Bolo, and the comarca of Viana around it, lie in Ourense province, in the south-east of Galicia near the Portuguese border, and give the breed its name. Nearly the whole population is kept within Galicia; one farm in Castilla y León, away from the home region, holds about 80 head.

The photographical reproduction of this work is covered under the article 35.2 of the Royal Legislative Decree 1/1996 of April 12, 1996 , and amended by Law 5/1998 of March 6, 1998 , which states that: Works permanently
The photographical reproduction of this work is covered under the article 35.2 of the Royal Legislative Decree 1/1996 of. Photo: Ocarteiro, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Numbers, conservation and the herd book

In 2022 the breed numbered just under 3000 head across 56 farms. Almost all of those cattle were in Galicia, with about 80 on a farm in Castilla y León. DAD-IS placed the breed in 2023 in its 'at risk/endangered-maintained' class, and the FAO had already called it endangered-maintained in 2007. Spain's agriculture ministry publishes the breeding programme that sets the breed standard.

Questions people ask about Vianesa

Where does the Vianesa come from?

It comes from Galicia, in north-western Spain, and takes its name either from Viana do Bolo or from the comarca of Viana around it, in Ourense province in the south-east of Galicia, near the northern Portuguese border.

What is it kept for?

Beef. The cattle are reared for meat. Mature bulls reach 850 kg or 913 kg and about 138 cm at the withers, while cows weigh 560 kg or 593 kg and stand around 132 cm.

Is the breed at risk?

Yes. DAD-IS put the breed in 2023 in its 'at risk/endangered-maintained' class, and the FAO had already listed it as endangered-maintained in 2007. In 2022 the population was just under 3000 head on 56 farms.

What does a Vianesa look like?

It is a horned taurine breed. The coat is dark brown, darkest at the extremities, and bulls are darker than cows; some animals show patches of other brown shades. Bulls stand about 138 cm at the withers and cows about 132 cm.

What other breeds is it grouped with?

The Vianesa forms part of the Morena Galega or Morenas del Noroeste group, the dark brown cattle of north-western Spain. The other members are the Limiana, the Frieiresa, the Caldelana and the Cachena.

Good reading and sources

Where this page comes from

The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Vianesa", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). EveryCow rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.

It may contain mistakes. Sizes, colours and customs differ from one herd, valley or breeder to the next. Folk beliefs are described as tradition, never as advice. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-16.

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Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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