PP, Junts per Catalunya, Vox and PNV have voted (April 23) in the Congress of Deputies in favor of the popular bill that removes the wolf from the List of Wild Species under Special Protection Regime (Lespre). The initiative has gone ahead with 180 votes in favor, 155 votes against (PSOE, Sumar and ERC) and 7 abstentions. The 7 abstentions belong to the Euskal Herria Bildu Group, which has not participated in the debate, and to the Canarian Coalition deputy Cristina Valido, belonging to the Mixed Group. The deputy of the Mixed Group José Luis Ábalos voted against along with PSOE, Sumar and ERC.
The PP proposal was related to the conservation of the wolf in Spain and its cohabitation with extensive livestock farming and the fight against the demographic challenge and proposed modifying the Royal Decree that develops the List to limit the prohibition of its hunting exclusively in the southern regions. of the Douro River.
The initiative has been debated a month after a motion was also approved at the request of the Popular Party in the Senate urging the Government to exclude the Lespre wolf, to reduce the protection of the species and to reach a agreement that makes wolf conservation compatible with livestock activities.
In the debate, the PP has exposed the incompatibility of the coexistence of the wolf with livestock farmers, the request for the elimination of the Lespre wolf and the accusations against the Government of regulations that are too protectionist and not in line with European ones.
The popular Silverio Argüelles has requested the exclusion of the wolf from Lespre and has pointed out that in Europe the status of the wolf has not changed, “it has only done so in Spain” where it was brought under the protection of the European Habitats Directive.
The status proposed by the PP was in line with the autonomies, because “the powers on this issue are theirs,” he stated, while accusing the Government of “having changed the situation through a lie about the extinction of the wolf.” of the wolf to the north and south of the Duero River”, and has pointed out that the ranchers who do not want compensation, only want to make a living from livestock, are being “put under the ropes.”
He has assured that it is communities like Cantabria, Galicia and others that are “giving subsidies for the protection of their livestock farms,” because “there are on average 35 attacks a day, with the loss of more than a million animals since the approval of the wolf protection law.”
“The impact of their measures is also destroying the agri-food industry,” he assured. And he has urged the Government to make the Common Agrarian Policy (CAP) and environmental laws more flexible, reduce bureaucracy, lower the tax on plastic, while “the PP seeks to return the wolf to the status it always had.”
The socialist deputy Daniel Senderos has accused the popular party of presenting “again a proposal that has already been presented in different committees of Congress and the Senate” and has asked the popular bench “if it has new approaches, because the wolf’s first strategy It was done in 2005 and should be reviewed in 2020 with PP governments, but the PSOE government has done it.”
The socialist has explained that the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge “has not taken away the powers of the autonomous communities” and has stated that the PSOE defends the balance in the ecosystems in which there is a presence of the wolf and the coexistence of the this animal and livestock.
Isidre Gavín i Valls (Junts) has assured that his training defends the protection of threatened species, but is also “favorable to the preservation of human activity in the natural environment.”
Josebe Aginetxea (PNV) has stressed that his party does not “engage in partisan wars”, which is why he voted in favor of the initiative “by sticking” to the text of the proposal and because “the management of the wolf has not been done well” and the inclusion in the Lespre “has not solved the problem that is being experienced between the wolf and livestock.”
Julia Boada Danés (Sumar) has defended the strategy in force until now, on which she has stressed that “there is consensus from a technical point of view that the preventive measures usually available are effective when they are globally and adequately executed.”
Boada Danés also recalled the existing prevention measures, such as that “Miteco transfers to the autonomous communities an annual fund of 20 million euros to finance prevention measures and compensation”; Even so, he has admitted that “it is necessary to reinforce social mediation measures.”
Thus, the representative for Sumar has stated that “the wolf is key to the balance of our ecosystems, as is key to establishing adequate prevention and compensation measures to guarantee balance.”
Ángel López Maraver (VOX) has emphasized his group’s position for years about the tremendous mistake of including the wolf on the list of protected species and how it could ruin “thousands of ranchers.”
As he stated, “adequate hunting control based on a national wolf management plan is the best tool to maintain a balance.”
