Why is ham often not considered meat ("carne") in Spain?

Question

A Barcelona vegetarian website I found says that in Spain, one must ask whether a dish contains "carne o pescado o jamon" (meat or fish or ham), because ham is often not considered meat. The same quirk about fish exists in English-speaking countries (because of the Catholic view of meat and/or a perception of a difference between land and sea animals), but why ham?

Answer 1

In my experience with Argentine Spanish-speaking, "carne" automatically means "beef."  It's the same with saying "burgers" (at least in the United States); you automatically assume a burger is going to be a beef burger unless otherwise specified.  

So, it may not be so much a matter of strict categorization as it is about generally accepted vocabulary.  Something like that.  

Answer 2

I really dont think this is true.. im spanish, i live in spain and ham is considered meat. Well not completely, but if a vegetarian asks for no meat, they would never give you ham. Ham isnt considered meat probably because its raw and cured, and it has a totally different appearance to meat. But, talking in vegetarian terms, ham and meat would go together!

Answer 3

Ham is considered meat in Spain. The translation of the website may be the problem. Not being a vegetarian and not knowing anyone where I live that is a vegetarian, it's not something I think of.

Answer 4

Because "carne" refers to beef even though a direct translation is "meat".

If you mean the meat of a fish you have to say something like, "La carne del pescado" (fish meat) or "la carne del puerco" (pig meat).

Saludos, BarcelonaMan(.com)

Answer 5

Ham is considered meat.  But ham is different to meat.  They have jamon, which is cured, similar to parma ham.  They also have jamon york which is the deli ham that is cooked.  A dish that contains carne is unlikely to contain jamon and vice versa.  So that is why you need to ask.  But on most menus the main meat ingredient is part of the name and ingredients of the dish are listed.