Hunting has been printed in the National ID of Spain for centuries. Now you have a problem: there is no relief

Hunting ages in Spain. A lot. Fast. And in a way that invites you to think that in a matter of decades the collective, which until not so long ago He presumed That only federated soccer and basketball surpassed him in the number of federated, he will see his even smaller weight. This is reflected at least A study Posted in People and Nature in which it is analyzed how the practice of hunting in the Iberian Peninsula has evolved throughout the last half century and what are the forecasts for the next decades.

The scenario they paint is not precisely flattering and leaves several questions, such as their impact on the mountains.

Hunting in Spain, under examination. That is what a group of researchers has done, among which there are several members of the Pyrenean Institute of Ecology (IPE-CSIC), In a broad article Posted in the magazine People and Nature. The title already leaves little margin for interpretations: “The demographic collapse of hunting in the Iberian Peninsula”. For analysis, experts have analyzed six Spanish regions (Navarra, Madrid, Aragon, Castilla-La Mancha, Murcia and Andalucía) and Portugal, covering a population of hunters that in 2020 reached 583,575.

A percentage: 45%. One of the first conclusions reached by researchers is that the population of hunters has been reduced notably during the last half century. And if the trend is maintained, it will continue to do so in the coming years.

The study It shows that in the last and a half decade the number of hunters fell in the area analyzed by 26%, a percentage that rises to 45% if we expand the focus to 50 years. In practice that translates into moving from about 1.06 million in 1970 to just under 800,000 in 2005 and lowering the 600,000 in 2020. And the researchers already warn that the future does not paint better.

“By 2050, if the average trends observed during the last five decades are followed, hunters throughout the study area are expected to decrease by 70%,” They point The authors of the study. As a reference, they remember that in 2007 Spain added 980,000 hunters, the second largest registration in Europe, only surpassed by France. Its calculations point out that in 2050 in the area studied, which does not cover the entire country but much of the territory will remain 176,815.

The key: the generational relief. One of the great challenges with which hunting is the lack of wise new. The aging of the population, the rural exodus and social and cultural changes have taken its toll to the collective and that is clearly reflected in Your figures. Researchers talk about the fact that, at least in the regions they have analyzed, “recruitment” has decreased more than 89% in just 50 years.

From 44,000 new hunters between 1970 and 1979, it went to less than 5,000 in the 2010 to 2020. And the descents were even greater in regions with a strong tradition, such as Castilla-La Mancha or Portugal, both with falls that exceed 90%.

The result is that the participation of young people in hunting has dropped to “Historical minimum”further complicating the future of the activity. The largest proportion of young hunters is found in the smallest municipalities, of less than 100 inhabitants, where it reaches 14%. In the localities with more than 10,000 neighbors that incidence collapses below 1%.

One more aged group. The result is obvious. It is increasingly easy to meet in Spain with major hunters, which have passed 60 years. And more difficult to see twenty -year -old or thirties by the mountain with the shotgun hanging on the shoulder. If the trend does not vary over the next few years the researchers already They warn that in the middle of this century the proportion of hunters who have already blown the 60 candles will go from 40 to 61%, thus becoming a comfortable majority.

“The hunting population studied, with about 600,000 hunters, is strongly aged, being the most abundant cohort that between 61 and 70 years, and its prevalence is eight times higher in smaller populations than in large cities,” They reflect The authors of the study.

The figures are again revealing: the strip of hunters from 61 to 70 years was the most abundant, with 23%, despite the fact that experts detected that the abandonment of hunting is accelerated from 65 years. The age cohort below 20 years is testimonial, with only 0.92%.

Question of changes. Change hunting, but also changes society and the Spanish population itself. In fact your Paulatino Aging It coincides with that of the whole of society and the abandonment of the rural one, another key that seems to affect the practice of hunting.

Researchers have proven that the average participation rate is much higher in small municipalities than in the large ones: in the villages of less than 100 neighbors it reaches 8%, compared to 1% in those of more than 100,000 inhabitants. With all the population weight of the latter, he explains that most hunters reside in large locations, especially those between 10,000 and 100,000 censored.

The global photo can be even worse for the collective, since, like They recognize The authors themselves, the investigation does not cover the whole of the Spanish territory. “The real decrease rates throughout the Iberian Peninsula are probably higher, since the regions not included in our study, located mainly in the northwest of Spain, are the most aging and where the hunting is likely to have decreased more,” they assume.

A fact, several questions. The study of People and Nature It is interesting because it reflects, with concrete figures and percentages, the “demographic collapse” that hunting in the peninsula is suffering. However, those same data leave some important questions, one of them outlined In the report itself: What impact does that loss of weight of hunting in ecosystems have and more specifically the populations of wildlife and flora? What are your ecological implications? How do they affect environmental management policies, if one considers that the decline coincides with the abandonment of the rural?

The economic footprint. Spain has also been a country of deep hunting tradition, which explains that At least in 2017according to the Yearbook of Sports Statistics, I had more federated people than most sports. In fact there were only two that surpassed it: football and basketball.

That enormous weight translates, according to The figures That manages the sector, in the generation of more than 6,000 million euros each year, the injection of hundreds of millions in public coffers and the creation of tens of thousands of jobs. He also explains that there is a good number of arms, even more than those dedicated to sports shooting.

In Xataka | In Spain an ancient practice of the Middle Ages has been recovered: hunt wild boars with archers to move them away from the city

Images | Emmanuel Rodríguez (Flickr) and The Demographic Collapse of Hunting in the Iberian Peninsula (People and Nature)