ARCHIVED - Wolf hunting to be banned throughout Spain

Cattle farmers in northern Spain may no longer shoot the Iberian wolf

For many years the degree of protection afforded to wolves living in the wild in Spain has been the subject of heated debate, but on Thursday a committee in the Ministry of Ecological Transition decided to introduce a uniform national ban which will make it illegal to hunt the animals all over the country.

Until now it has been permitted to shoot wolves in the wild north of the River Duero, where they are most numerous and pose a greater threat to cattle, but after an agreement was reached among representatives of the 17 regions of Spain the species is now to be included on the list of those given special protection. The decision was not by any means unanimous, though, and after the first vote ended in a tie a second round of voting was required in order for a simple majority to hold sway.

It is unsurprising to learn that the regions voting against the hunting ban were mostly those in the north, including Cantabria, Asturias, Castilla y León and Galicia, but in the end their efforts to protect the cattle of farmers from attacks and to avoid costly compensation claims were undone by the majority decision. This is despite the fact that they received support from regional governments led by the opposition PP party, including the Region of Murcia, where the wolf population is believed to be limited to those living in captivity.

There are believed to be between 1,600 and 2,700 specimens of the Iberian wolf living in the wild in Spain and in recent years the population has grown in the mountains not far north of Madrid, where the species had died out 70 years previously.