Hunters keep dying in Spain, so do bystanders.
According to data compiled by animal-rights party PACMA and regional reports, at least 32 people were killed and 89 injured in hunting-related incidents between 2019 and 2022.
In early 2025, another ten deaths and around twenty injuries were recorded in just four months, including a hiker shot near a public trail. The numbers may seem small compared with road accidents, yet they point to a structural issue.
Around 80 to 85 per cent of Spanish territory is classed as hunting ground, public or private. Hiking paths, abandoned farms, picnic spots and even peri-urban forests often overlap with areas where rifles are in use most weekends from autumn to spring.
For anyone who simply wants a quiet walk, the countryside can feel less like shared land and more like someone else’s shooting range.
A Tradition under Scrutiny
Hunters argue that their activity is essential. Spain’s large wild boar population damages crops and causes thousands of traffic accidents each year. Rural hunting estates support jobs, attract visiting shooters and keep some villages economically afloat.
The national hunting lobby portrays the sport as a pillar of traditional culture and a tool for managing ecosystems. Yet the accident figures challenge this contained, private-risk narrative.
Stray bullets that hit nearby paths blur the line completely. In France, a series of fatal incidents prompted a national debate on restricting hunting hours so that walkers could enjoy at least one day a week without gunfire.
Spain has had no equivalent discussion at national level, despite similar tragedies. The environmental question grows louder as well.
Scientific bodies and the European Chemicals Agency have warned about lead contamination from ammunition in soil and water. The EU has already banned lead shot in wetlands and is considering broader restrictions.
Spain will have to adapt sooner or later, even if parts of the hunting sector resist.
Public Land, Private Rules
For many urban Spaniards, hiking is now one of the few free ways to escape cramped flats and crowded streets. Public campaigns encourage outdoor exercise and contact with nature, yet in practice large parts of that nature are dominated by organised shoots for much of the year.
This tension is not unique to Spain. In Italy and Greece, conflicts between hunters and walkers regularly surface, whilst in some North African countries hunting remains heavily restricted and everyday contact with rural landscapes follows different patterns.
The contrast reveals how cultural norms, not just income levels, determine what people consider acceptable in shared spaces. Spain’s reputation as a modern country with strong environmental laws sits uneasily beside scenes of dead animals dumped in ravines or left near rural roads after driven hunts.
Cases of dogs abandoned at the end of the hunting season continue to appear, despite tougher penalties. These practices belong to a past that many citizens no longer recognise as compatible with their idea of a civilised countryside.
From Conflict to Coexistence
No policy can erase hunting overnight, and many rural families depend on it economically. Yet reducing harm and restoring trust requires more than declarations of tradition.
Clearer separation between driven hunts and public trails, mandatory real-time information on active hunting zones, and stricter training and licensing requirements would be a start.
Some regions have piloted apps that warn walkers of nearby hunts, whilst others are experimenting with non-lethal population control in peri-urban areas.
These measures remain marginal. Without a national conversation, they stay patchwork solutions rather than a coherent safety strategy. Spain often presents itself as a country that cares for its landscapes and biodiversity.
Living up to that image may require admitting that the right to enjoy the countryside in peace should carry as much weight as the right to shoot in it. Tradition deserves respect, but not immunity from scrutiny as long as people keep getting shot.
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