The Group for the Rehabilitation of Native Fauna and its Habitat (Grefa), one of the oldest and most prestigious entities in the protection of nature in Spain, may literally be left on the street (without premises or facilities) on the 28th of December. December if the decision of the Majadahonda City Council (Community of Madrid) is confirmed to terminate on that date the collaboration agreement that has allowed Grefa since 2007 to occupy (by transfer) some land and keep facilities in Monte del Monte in operation. Pilar (in Majadahonda) which includes the Wild Fauna Hospital created and managed by this entity.
The Majadahonda City Council (governed alone by the PP) published last Friday the 5th on its website an informative note in which it indicated that “it has reminded Grefa by means of a notification” of the end of the collaboration agreement that it has signed since 1998″. The City Council affirms that the agreement was signed for a period of 25 years and that, according to its interpretation of Law 40/2015, “its renewal or extension of the aforementioned collaboration agreement is not possible.”
Consequently, he tells the City Council, “they [Grefa] have been informed of the expiration [of the agreement] with sufficient notice for them to arbitrate the appropriate measures for the effective protection of the animals that are currently in the facilities.” An official spokesperson for the City Council has assured, in statements to La Vanguardia, that “Grefa has known when the agreement expires since 1998, and in 2022 he was informed again of the end of the term in 2023.” “Grefa affirms that the term of the agreement ends in 2032 [25 years after the beginning of the effective occupation of the lands and facilities] but a court ruling ratified that the period of 25 years from the signing of the agreement must be applied, in 1998,” indicates the municipal government spokesperson.
Grefa has responded to the Majadahonda City Council’s announcement, regretting the lack of dialogue on the part of the current and previous municipal government (also with an absolute majority of the PP), exposing its interpretation of the period of validity of the agreement with the City Council and warning of the serious damage for the fauna that may mean what they describe as an immediate forced “eviction” of the facilities in Monte del Pilar. The word ‘eviction’ is in this case justified as an action of “dismissing the tenant or lessee through legal action” (definition from the RAE dictionary, third meaning of ‘evict’).
The president of Grefa, Ernesto Álvarez, explained that “it is true that there is a controversy with the Majadahonda City Council over the validity of the agreement signed with Grefa, but for us that agreement expires in 2032, since we understand that it began to expire. be operational when Grefa moved to Monte del Pilar in 2007 and we inaugurated our current wildlife hospital.
Álvarez indicates that “aside from these legal and administrative issues, the logical thing would be for the Majadahonda City Council to find a way for us to continue working in the municipality, when we know that the citizens of Majadahonda support us, visit us, help and there are many who are proud to have one of the most advanced and active animal hospitals in Europe”.
The announcement of the end of the agreement with Grefa communicated by the City Council has provoked numerous reactions from entities and individuals, mostly in support of the conservation entity, including hundreds of messages on social networks on the internet. Last weekend a campaign was launched (
Possibly as a consequence of the citizen reaction against the municipal announcement, Grefa representatives have been summoned to a meeting with the mayor of Majadahonda on Wednesday, October 11. Ernesto Álvarez trusts that the City Council will reconsider its position: “let’s see if together we can find a favorable solution to the work of defending biodiversity” carried out by this entity with long and recognized work.
The official spokesperson for the City Council has indicated that at the meeting on the 11th “the decision to execute the expiration of the current agreement will be presented to Grefa, so the entity must vacate the facilities.” Subsequently, the council “will work on reaching a new agreement for these lands and facilities”, which will be granted to the entity that can best apply for it, which could once again be Grefa.
“The City Council does not want to fire Grefa. We understand that they do a positive job but we are obliged to call a new agreement and make the award in accordance with the law, otherwise the City Council would be prevaricating.”
