About 700 pairs of white storks live all year in the Plana de Lleida, according to environmental organizations. They don’t emigrate. Moderate winters and food in municipal landfills invite them to stay looking for bell towers and electric towers to nest.
Endesa has had to put in the batteries to make its infrastructure compatible with new tenants and avoid electrocutions and supply cuts, especially when they land or take off and their wings touch something. In Segrià alone, the company has adapted more than 350 supports since 2017 with an investment of 630,000 euros.
In order to make it easier for them to nest, Endesa has just installed in ten towers, between Torregrossa and Ivars d’Urgell, a unique prototype in Catalonia, a structure made of fiberglass and with mineral-loaded resins, developed in Lleida, which covers the head of the tower. The shape and volume are calculated with the wind in mind.
The presence of storks in Lleida has caused tensions several times. The spokesperson for the environmental association Ipcena, Joan Vázquez, assures that, although the institutions must ensure their preservation, they have not always done so. Ipcena battled with the bishopric for the maintenance of nests in the cathedral while the Ministry of Territory and Sustainability, for its part, installs artificial nests periodically. The presence of these birds can also be seen in the streets. Two years ago, the artist Oriol Arumí painted the mural of storks on the facade of a building, between Avinguda Segre and Carrer Lluís Roca.
