The Paranys or Barraccas - trapping with lime sticks in Spain

Bird slaughter - a national pastime

In the east of the Iberian Peninsula, in the autonomous regions of Catalonia and Valencia, bird trapping is still an integral part of ‘traditional’ hunting. Every autumn countless thrushes are caught on treacherous lime sticks in hundreds of trapping sites - the so-called ‘Barraccas’ or 'Paranys'.

In the crowns of the massive and inviting trees, in specially sown plantations of mainly carob, the trappers prune the branches to create vertical chimneys in which the lime sticks can be positioned. A tangle of ladders and platforms provide access to the treetops for the trappers, who spend almost every night in the trapping season in small huts under the trees. In some areas near Valencia the whole landscape is dominated by the trapping sites with their characteristic form. Bird slaughter as a national pastime!

At night in autumn taped bird calls lure whole flocks of night migrants to their deadly fate. The birds, mainly thrushes, are held fast on the lime sticks. If they fall to the ground with the stick a wall or fence surrounding the installation prevents them escaping. The suffering birds are collected and killed only after sunrise.

It is not known precisely how many birds are caught by this method but cautious estimates run into hundreds of thousands annually. This method of trapping has been banned in the EU since 1979. Although the Spanish courts have long ago declared the practice illegal, and a judgement of the European Court of Justice ruled unambiguously in December 2004 that the ‘Barraccas’ must be closed down, they are still very much in use today.

Support the protest campaign against illegal song bird trapping in Spain!

To add insult to injury the Valencian regional government has this summer (2009) tabled a draft amendment to the Game Law which would legalise the some 1,500 trapping facilities on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. Instead of combating this brutal bird trapping practice with all means at its disposal, the trappers are to be handed a blank cheque to continue their ‘tradition’. In order not to infringe the EU bird protection guidelines the Spanish hunting lobby has allegedly invented a ’selective’ lime which only ensnares thrushes - but not robins or blackcaps! The proof of this ridiculous claim has been provided by the same French institute that is also responsible for the legalising of the stone crush traps in the French Central Massif.

The Committee Against Bird Slaughter CABS, together with its partner organisations GECEN, AE-Agró, GER-EA and Proact International, has initiated a protest campaign directed to the Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

You can find a draft protest mail to Seňor Zapetero here...

In addition you can sign an online petition to be sent to the European Commission Stop Parany Trapping >>