News

Campaign fights illegal traps

Conservationists in Spain are calling for the Spanish government to enforce the laws against the illegal trapping of songbirds before the upcoming general election.

Up to four million birds perish every autumn in Spain, due to so-called "parany" or glue traps. Thrushes are the main target – which are sold to restaurants and eaten as tapas – but hundreds of other species also get caught and die.

Mario Giménez, head of Sociedad Española de Ornitologia/BirdLife, said that the hunting is still happening, despite it being illegal: "It is just not so flagrant now. We have seen the traps and heard the bird song recordings that the trappers use. Now when they hear a car, they do at least turn the machine off."

In the past few weeks, 340 traps have been found by Spain's Association of Environmental Officers. A spokesperson said: "They are only the first ones discovered so far this year. In previous years we have found some 2,000 traps."

Miguel Angel Bayarri of the trappers association, Apaval, is unrepentant. He said the hunting and eating of thrushes goes back to Roman times: "There are pictures of parany traps in the mosaics of Pompeii. This is a tradition that has existed for centuries and we will continue to fight for it."

The actual hunting of thrushes and redwing is not illegal (the particular type of glue trap is) and up to two in every five birds caught are not songbirds. Campaigners fear a change of government in Spain will lead to the authorities relaxing the law on trapping. The right-wing People's Party (PP), which looks likely to win the upcoming general election, has previously tried to legalise the use of parany traps, in an attempt to win votes.

Mr Giménez said: "The PP is expected to win, and that is the same party that has tried to legalise this in Valencia. We don't want a new government turning the clock back."