"Madonna has opened up this world for us now, sweetheart. She's made it stylish. Re-invented it."
"So you're going to kill things because of Madonna."
The "Absolutely Fabulous" take on huntin', shootin' and fishin'. Mallorca's winter tourism industry is missing a trick by not appealing to the Notting Hill/Holland Park set and shipping them in for a bit of wildlife slaughter. A fine rural hotel, a touch of agrotourism, evenings in the spa and then in the morning out into the Tramuntana range or onto a finca and give some fauna a good seeing-to with a high-powered rifle. If you're lucky, you might get it served up. Fancy some goat? How about some partridge? Rather plumper than a thrush or a starling.
To the north of Alcúdia old town, in the mountains of La Victoria, the quality of goat is first-rate. It was awarded a certification a couple of years ago. The excellence of the catch, promoted as such, was partly designed to bag an overseas hunter tourist.
Hunting isn't exactly big when it comes to Mallorcan tourism, but it is pretty big in Spain as a whole. An organisation known as Ibex Hunt Spain ("the taste of professionals", says its website) can help with the hunting of the Balear goat. It can help in other ways: "you will enjoy hunting our wild animals in a natural and rugged environment ... another outstanding feature is our rich and varied gastronomy ... we can also offer you a variety of accommodations (sic)". What did I tell you? A country hotel and you can wolf down the catch. That's the taste of the professional presumably.
Cue dramatic music. Mountainous terrain. The poignant plucking of a guitar. The sighting of the gun. The falling of the goat. The huntsman with his trophy. This describes a video from Ibex Hunt that you can see on YouTube - "Hunting Balear Goat". Tasteful and professional. Not, one imagines, that everyone would agree.
Oh dear, the sensibilities of anthropomorphisising homo sapiens. Personally, while I find the stabbing to death of a bull less than completely agreeable, I have no qualms with hunting. No, this isn't quite accurate. I have no qualms because it's not something I ever think about. The subject only looms into gun sight once the local hunting seasons get underway. Even then, until the transposition of human attributes onto dumb animals is given an airing by the outraged, it all passes me by, despite the sounds of gun shot that ring out daily from Albufera.
It can all be reconciled by invoking our inner hunter-gatherer. Where the anti-hunting lobby may have a point is the rather less equal contest nowadays. Our forebears lacked a Winchester semi-automatic or a silver-engraved Browning, but rest assured that if the technology had been available, they would have used it. A further difference is that those ancient ancestors would have removed the head and eaten it and taken to wearing the horns rather than mounting the head on the living-room wall, a singularly peculiar thing to do. But if someone wants to, then who am I to say they shouldn't.
Local hunting falls into two distinct categories. One is for sport, as with the goat, the other is for control. Blasting birds out of the skies or trees does have a reason, such as ensuring that those with animal-centric sensibilities can be guaranteed their olive oil or wine. Birds quite like some of Mallorca's produce as well, which is one reason for the culls. Wildlife management isn't only about keeping the wildlife alive, it's also about killing it.
Mallorca's hunting tradition is part and parcel of the island's ruralism. It may not be as strong as it was for the obvious reason that Mallorcan rural life doesn't exist in the same way that it did before mass tourism. But it's still very much there. It is celebrated each year at the hunters' fairs. For example, in 2009 this was in Pollensa, for which they had the Council of Mallorca to thank for stumping up over a hundred grand to stage it. Money well spent no doubt in helping to preserve Mallorca's alternative tourism as well as the cadre of licensed hunters on the island, of which there are over 25,000. Which sounds like an awful lot.
It isn't only the animal-rightists who get into a tiz about hunting, there is also the environmental group GOB. It has made the not entirely stupid point that it does seem somewhat contradictory to have reserves where birds flock in, only to go and start taking a pop at them. But you come back to that management, of both flora and fauna. It's all done in the best interests of nature, so be thankful that Mallorca's countryside hasn't been overrun by Barbour-wearing Madonnas or Eddys and Patsys. Yet.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Showing posts with label Hunting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hunting. Show all posts
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Monday, October 13, 2008
Bang Bang, You Shot Me Down
Bang bang. The hunting season started yesterday. It lasts until January. There are apparently 26,000 licensed hunters in the Balearics; that sounds like an awful lot. As of yesterday, there were any number of birds, such as thrushes, starlings and partridges, as well as rabbits (and quite possibly other species) keeping a beady eye out for the sight of a long barrel. At least there is some control. A hunter cannot just go and blast everything out of the skies or off the land, but it may well come as a surprise that the likes of the partridge are included in this annual cull, and some of it is just that - a cull, as a proportion of the hunters are so-called preservation hunters.
To what extent the non-preservation hunters are actually making a contribution to planned wildlife management, I am not altogether sure. At a guess, I would suggest it is not that great a contribution. The hunting of wild birds sounds like a sport of the landed classes, as it is elsewhere, though here I wouldn't be so certain; it is still not that long ago that much of Mallorca was essentially rural with therefore rural pursuits. Hunting is as much a tradition as the fiesta; there is an annual hunters' "fiesta" which alternates its venue across the island. Another target of the hunter's gun, the mountain goat, is said to be of superior quality here and one that it is hoped will also attract a certain tourist, one with a rifle.
But one cannot put Mallorcan hunting into the same class as the hoorays who might pitch up for the glorious twelfth. Apart from anything else, there are no hoorays as such here; well, not among the Mallorcans at any rate. Of the older Mallorcans, I know of some who, wealthy, are also what one might describe as the salt of the earth; they shoot, they ride horses, the rural pursuit is still a part of their lives, as it would have been that of their fathers and grandfathers.
Nevertheless, not everyone is happy with the hunting. And up pops, once more, our old friends, the environmental pressure group GOB. Barely a day passes it seems without GOB making a pronouncement or a denunciation about something or other. Much as I may incline towards the environmental cause, my take on it is essentially pragmatic; GOB's is if it moves or if it grows or if it's about to be built upon or interfered with in some way by mankind, it should be left alone. It's why I referred the other day to a certain Carlism in the environmental movement here. The desire, it seems, is to revert to the pure and natural state; it is a dogmatic stance.
The power that GOB appears to now exert suggests that it might be brought into the governmental process. I doubt very much if the group would fall for that one. Once formally politicised, its members would be pressured themselves into being somewhat less one-eyed and one-issued; they wouldn't go for it. Far better to be unofficially politicised and to lob the enviro grenades (harmless ones and no doubt biodegradable, to boot) onto the political or commercial or even the environmental agenda, if this last one doesn't sound a tad contrary. For GOB has raised objections as to what is going on at the Son Real finca near to Can Picafort, the one that is managed by the sustainable development foundation, who, one would imagine, wears its environmental badge with pride. GOB would beg to differ, as hunting for birds, specifically thrushes, is to be permitted on the finca. The pressure group believes, not perhaps without some justification, that a preservation area should not be one for the extermination of the very migratory birds that it attracts and which are to the fore in the environmental argument for such preservation in the first place. GOB also reckons that tourists (yes, all those thousands upon thousands who don't come) will find it a mite peculiar that they have to dodge a hunter's aim as they are targetting the very same birds with a binocular lens. (Actually, that's sort of what is reckoned; it's not what has been said in those words exactly.)
GOB may well have an argument, but the sounds of gunshot I now hear are coming from where? Unless the sounds are travelling an awfully long distance, they are emanating from Albufera, the other and more important nature-preservation park in the area; as they have since I have been a neighbour. Even were they not, the problem with GOB is that it just can't keep its gob shut. Its pronouncements are so regular that they start to become tiresome; the group is in danger also of crying wolf (as opposed, naturally, to hunting wolf). What may have escaped GOB's attention is the fact that if it is deemed necessary to cull and to hunt, where better to do it than in areas which attract birds. The hunters are unlikely to be wandering through the middles of towns taking potshots at a passing thrush. It may indeed seem strange, to GOB, that they hunt birds in Son Real, but for the group to now make it an international issue by informing those in countries with tourists to Mallorca is taking it all a bit far. GOB devotes too much energy to hunting for new battles; these get to a stage where those who might otherwise have sympathy switch off, and so they become counter-productive. Just a little less gobby, please.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - The Commodores - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFHbGuSRAwg. Today's title - the one-time other half of an Irish-sounding fellow.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
To what extent the non-preservation hunters are actually making a contribution to planned wildlife management, I am not altogether sure. At a guess, I would suggest it is not that great a contribution. The hunting of wild birds sounds like a sport of the landed classes, as it is elsewhere, though here I wouldn't be so certain; it is still not that long ago that much of Mallorca was essentially rural with therefore rural pursuits. Hunting is as much a tradition as the fiesta; there is an annual hunters' "fiesta" which alternates its venue across the island. Another target of the hunter's gun, the mountain goat, is said to be of superior quality here and one that it is hoped will also attract a certain tourist, one with a rifle.
But one cannot put Mallorcan hunting into the same class as the hoorays who might pitch up for the glorious twelfth. Apart from anything else, there are no hoorays as such here; well, not among the Mallorcans at any rate. Of the older Mallorcans, I know of some who, wealthy, are also what one might describe as the salt of the earth; they shoot, they ride horses, the rural pursuit is still a part of their lives, as it would have been that of their fathers and grandfathers.
Nevertheless, not everyone is happy with the hunting. And up pops, once more, our old friends, the environmental pressure group GOB. Barely a day passes it seems without GOB making a pronouncement or a denunciation about something or other. Much as I may incline towards the environmental cause, my take on it is essentially pragmatic; GOB's is if it moves or if it grows or if it's about to be built upon or interfered with in some way by mankind, it should be left alone. It's why I referred the other day to a certain Carlism in the environmental movement here. The desire, it seems, is to revert to the pure and natural state; it is a dogmatic stance.
The power that GOB appears to now exert suggests that it might be brought into the governmental process. I doubt very much if the group would fall for that one. Once formally politicised, its members would be pressured themselves into being somewhat less one-eyed and one-issued; they wouldn't go for it. Far better to be unofficially politicised and to lob the enviro grenades (harmless ones and no doubt biodegradable, to boot) onto the political or commercial or even the environmental agenda, if this last one doesn't sound a tad contrary. For GOB has raised objections as to what is going on at the Son Real finca near to Can Picafort, the one that is managed by the sustainable development foundation, who, one would imagine, wears its environmental badge with pride. GOB would beg to differ, as hunting for birds, specifically thrushes, is to be permitted on the finca. The pressure group believes, not perhaps without some justification, that a preservation area should not be one for the extermination of the very migratory birds that it attracts and which are to the fore in the environmental argument for such preservation in the first place. GOB also reckons that tourists (yes, all those thousands upon thousands who don't come) will find it a mite peculiar that they have to dodge a hunter's aim as they are targetting the very same birds with a binocular lens. (Actually, that's sort of what is reckoned; it's not what has been said in those words exactly.)
GOB may well have an argument, but the sounds of gunshot I now hear are coming from where? Unless the sounds are travelling an awfully long distance, they are emanating from Albufera, the other and more important nature-preservation park in the area; as they have since I have been a neighbour. Even were they not, the problem with GOB is that it just can't keep its gob shut. Its pronouncements are so regular that they start to become tiresome; the group is in danger also of crying wolf (as opposed, naturally, to hunting wolf). What may have escaped GOB's attention is the fact that if it is deemed necessary to cull and to hunt, where better to do it than in areas which attract birds. The hunters are unlikely to be wandering through the middles of towns taking potshots at a passing thrush. It may indeed seem strange, to GOB, that they hunt birds in Son Real, but for the group to now make it an international issue by informing those in countries with tourists to Mallorca is taking it all a bit far. GOB devotes too much energy to hunting for new battles; these get to a stage where those who might otherwise have sympathy switch off, and so they become counter-productive. Just a little less gobby, please.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - The Commodores - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFHbGuSRAwg. Today's title - the one-time other half of an Irish-sounding fellow.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Thursday, January 17, 2008
The Lonely Goatherd
Hunting, shooting, fishing. The next big thing for Mallorcan tourism. Well not necessarily, but there has been a move in promoting tourism of the “highest” quality in hunting. The mountainous area of La Victoria outside Alcúdia has been awarded a certification of quality for the goats that can be hunted by the Balearic commission for hunting.
Go to the hermitage at La Victoria and you will commonly find goats munching their way through the undergrowth. They wander freely around the place, until that is someone points a gun in their direction. Normally, visitors only go as far as the hermitage, but if you head up the mountain further one of the first things you see is a sign warning you about “dangerous” animals. I fancy there is greater danger from human animals than anything on four legs.
Hunting is not something one might associate with Mallorca, but it is big news – in hunting circles at any rate. The hunting organisation holds an annual event; it was in Alcúdia three years ago. That hunting is popular here should not really be a surprise. Though an island, Mallorca’s history is as much bound up with the land as the sea. Go back in time and, apart from Palma, much of the coast was sparsely populated. It was the land that sustained Mallorca, and traditions in for instance cuisine have their roots in peasant cooking using the produce of the land. Goat is a traditional Mallorcan dish. Among older Mallorcans in particular, the tradition of the land runs deep. Hunting and horsemanship. I know some most unlikely people who are superb horsemen.
By contrast with hunting, fishing is already popular with tourists. Most of this is sea fishing. Requests for information about fishing are something I get quite often. One is, strictly speaking, meant to have a licence, the annual fee for which is pretty cheap – around 12 euros. But it is a hassle to get hold of one. Mostly, therefore, tourists (and indeed others) just get on with it, though the police are quite within their rights to demand to see a permit. One British resident of many years’ standing was caught. He didn’t even know you needed a licence, but you do. And so, I suppose, you also need one for hunting. Presumably if they’re going to promote hunting tourism, the obtaining of a permit will be made rather easier than that for fishing.
EROSKI
My mistake, the streetlights have not been painted red, just the whacking great Eroski pole and sign. Still an awful lot of red though.
QUIZ
Yesterday – Neil Diamond. Today’s title – well it could be a herd of goats, couldn’t it? Anyway, where’s this from? Easy, easy.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Go to the hermitage at La Victoria and you will commonly find goats munching their way through the undergrowth. They wander freely around the place, until that is someone points a gun in their direction. Normally, visitors only go as far as the hermitage, but if you head up the mountain further one of the first things you see is a sign warning you about “dangerous” animals. I fancy there is greater danger from human animals than anything on four legs.
Hunting is not something one might associate with Mallorca, but it is big news – in hunting circles at any rate. The hunting organisation holds an annual event; it was in Alcúdia three years ago. That hunting is popular here should not really be a surprise. Though an island, Mallorca’s history is as much bound up with the land as the sea. Go back in time and, apart from Palma, much of the coast was sparsely populated. It was the land that sustained Mallorca, and traditions in for instance cuisine have their roots in peasant cooking using the produce of the land. Goat is a traditional Mallorcan dish. Among older Mallorcans in particular, the tradition of the land runs deep. Hunting and horsemanship. I know some most unlikely people who are superb horsemen.
By contrast with hunting, fishing is already popular with tourists. Most of this is sea fishing. Requests for information about fishing are something I get quite often. One is, strictly speaking, meant to have a licence, the annual fee for which is pretty cheap – around 12 euros. But it is a hassle to get hold of one. Mostly, therefore, tourists (and indeed others) just get on with it, though the police are quite within their rights to demand to see a permit. One British resident of many years’ standing was caught. He didn’t even know you needed a licence, but you do. And so, I suppose, you also need one for hunting. Presumably if they’re going to promote hunting tourism, the obtaining of a permit will be made rather easier than that for fishing.
EROSKI
My mistake, the streetlights have not been painted red, just the whacking great Eroski pole and sign. Still an awful lot of red though.
QUIZ
Yesterday – Neil Diamond. Today’s title – well it could be a herd of goats, couldn’t it? Anyway, where’s this from? Easy, easy.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
