Help us halt illegal hunting

Help us halt illegal hunting

Spain

Goldfinch in tree
Trapping of finches takes place in most regions of Spain

Spain has 980,000 hunters, the second highest number in the EU after France. However, its hunter density (1.9 hunters/sq km) and proportion of hunters in the national population (2.4) are similar to the other mainland southern European states.

In contravention of the Birds Directive, regional governments permit:

  • Spring shooting of pigeons, thrushes and woodcocks in February in Andalusia, Extremadura and Cantabria
  • In several regions, during the breeding season, hunting of woodpigeons, turtle doves and quails
  • In some regions, hunting of species not listed as those that can be legally hunted in Annex II of the Directive, for example the spotless starling.              

The law

The national hunting legislation is in line with the Birds Directive. However, the legislation of some of the autonomous regions is in breach of the Birds Directive.

Under derogation from the Birds Directive, the following are licensed:

  • Autumn trapping, with lime sticks, of migrating thrushes in Cataluña 'for scientific purposes' (although this is illegal in Valencia, it still continues in the absence of enforcement activity) 
  • Spring hunting of woodpigeons from February to March in the Basque Country (Biscay, northern Spain)
  • Trapping, with nets and lime, of small numbers of finches, mainly for use as caged birds. This takes place in most regions, notably Andalucía, Cataluña, Valencia and Murcia (i.e. from central to southern Spain)
  • Netting of migrating thrushes in Mallorca from October to January.              

Conservation action

After a complaint from Sociedad Española Ornitología (SEO, BirdLife in Spain), the European Commission started an infringement procedure against Spain for inadequate compliance with the Birds Directive in national legislation and in the management of hunting by the autonomous regions.   

As a result, since 1997, national law complies fully with the Directive. Unfortunately, the autonomous regions are still reluctant to modify their own regional legislative and administrative procedures. 

In two recent cases brought by the European Commission and supported by SEO, the European Court of Justice ruled against Spain:

  • for the Regional Government of Valencia authorising the hunting of thrushes with birdlime ('parany') (December 2004)
  • for the provincial Government of Guipuzkoa (Basque Country) authorising the hunting of woodpigeons during the pre-breeding migration (June 2005).      

Following this judgement spring hunting of woodpigeons was also stopped in Navarra and, in the Basque Country in Alava province but not Biscay (Vizcaya). Thus, in December 2005 SEO/BirdLife pressed charges against the Government of Biscay. The European Commission sent Spain a first written warning on the case in June 2006. 

Also, in December 2004 the European Commission opened a procedure against Spain because of Cataluña authorizing the 'exceptional' trapping of thrushes.

SEO studies domestic legislation published before each hunting season to detect any infringement of the Birds Directive. Legal action is accordingly started when needed.

The RSPB has supported SEO for many years in this work, for example against bird-liming in Cataluña.

What you can do

You can send letters of protest about illegal hunting to:

DG Nature Conservation, Ministry of Environment, C/Gran Vía de San Francisco, 4, 28071 Madrid, Spain

For further information, contact: 
SEO, Melquiades Biencinto 34, ES-28053 Madrid, Spain.
Tel: +34 91 434 0910
Fax: +34 91 434 0911
E-mail: juridico@seo.org

Last modified: 29 June 2006