The origins of the Pirenaica are uncertain. In the past it was the predominant cattle breed of northern Spain. A herd-book was opened in Gipuzkoa in 1905, the first of its kind in Spain;[4]: 136 [5]: 388 in 1925 a herd-book was opened in Navarre also.[4]: 136 However, from about the turn of the twentieth century, large-scale importation of Braunvieh cattle from Switzerland began to threaten the breed; while at first these were pure-bred, they soon began to be cross-bred with the Pirenaica to improve meat and milk yield. In 1912 a census of cattle in Gipuzkoa found about 50000 head, of which less than 40% were pure-bred Pirenaica stock; the remainder were Braunvieh and Braunvieh-Pirenaica crosses, in roughly equal proportions.[5]: 388 In 1954 there were 18000 head,[6]: 114 but by the 1970s the Pirenaica was close to extinction.[4]: 135 [5]: 390 In 1974 it had disappeared from the Basque Country, with the exception of about 40 head in Gipuzkoa;[7][8] in Navarre about 1500 head remained, of which about 1000 were in the valley of Aezkoa.[5]: 390
In the 1970s the Diputación Foral [es] of Navarre began a programme of recovery of the Pirenaica breed. A number of regional breeders' associations were set up; a national federation of these, the Confederación de Asociaciones de Ganado Vacuno Pirenaico [es], was formed in 1988. At the end of 2014 the total population was recorded as 40026, of which 34806 were female and 5220 were male.[2][9] Of these, about 50% were in Navarre and 25% in the Basque Country; there were substantial populations in Aragón, Cantabria and Castilla León, and smaller numbers in Catalonia, the Comunitat Valenciana, Extremadura, La Rioja, Madrid and the Principado de Asturias.[9] By the end of 2023 numbers had fallen to 33241 head in all, including 22887 registered breeding cows and 981 active registered bulls.[10]
The Pirenaica is classified among the "autochthonous breeds in development" by the Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente, the Spanish ministry of agriculture, and thus at less risk of extinction.[11]
