Claims of hunting dangerously near to the Torrevieja-La Mata (Alicante) national park

MEMBERS of the public visiting the Torrevieja-La Mata national park recently heard shots near a popular spot with ramblers.

They claimed that on the day the shots were heard, several people walking their dogs preferred to turn round and leave. This part of the park is particularly busy at the weekend, they said, and only a few metres away from a country road with continuous traffic.

Many old agricultural properties remain in this area which straddles Torrevieja and Guardamar and is popular with  hunters.  Groups of them organise shoots in the zone near Casa de Les Palmeres in Guardamar, located outside the national park but inside its protection perimeter. 

Much of the land is privately owned but not fenced and, according to reports in the local Spanish media, there are no signs warning that this is a private reserve or a zone where hunting is permitted.

Hunting is always banned within 25 metres of paths, roads and houses as well as inside national parks. Nevertheless, this has occasionally been permitted locally with dogs, but without firearms,  to keep down the plagues of rabbits that periodically threaten La Mata’s 30 hectares of vines.

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