Mallorca pigeon shoot plans release of 2,000 birds

More than 2,000 domestic pigeons are due to be released on Sunday at the Son Ximena estate in Felanitx, Mallorca, for a pigeon-shooting event. About 200 shooters are expected. The party MÉS per Mallorca says the plan clashes with the island’s efforts to cut pigeon numbers.

The event is being organised by the Balearic Hunting Federation. MÉS says it will be the first such shoot since PP and Vox changed rules that had banned the practice since 2018.

Row over pigeon controls

In August, the Consell de Mallorca declared a temporary hunting emergency for pigeons and wood pigeons for the third consecutive year, allowing extra hunting days. Pedro Bestard, the council’s vice-president and councillor for Environment, Rural Affairs and Sport, said at the time that high numbers of the birds were damaging fields and built-up areas.

Catalina Inés Perelló, a MÉS councillor, says Bestard must explain why he can back emergency action over pigeon numbers and then, weeks later, not oppose the release of more than 2,000 birds. She said the approach was not consistent with what farmers had been told about overpopulation.

MÉS seeks answers over council logo

The party says the shoot does not need island council permission because it is not legally classed as a form of hunting. But it argues that the Environment Department must still account for the possible effects of the event.

MÉS also questions why the department’s logo appears in publicity for the shoot. It wants Bestard to say whether his department is involved, whether the impact on pigeons that are not shot has been assessed, and what action is planned if some remain free.

Topics: Agriculture · Politics · Felanitx

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com