The Provincial Association of Farmers and Ranchers (APAG-Asaja) of Guadalajara has lashed out against the actions of the Junta de Castilla-La Mancha in response to the rabbit plague affecting the province's countryside and other areas of the region. The organization maintains that, despite the announcements made by the regional government in recent months, "absolutely nothing has been done" to curb a population that continues to cause serious damage to numerous agricultural holdings.
In statements to Europa Press, the president of APAG, Juan José Laso, stated that "all those promises" from the Ministry of Sustainable Development "have come to nothing" and criticized that the rabbits "continue to roam freely" because, as he indicated, measures such as night hunting, the use of trap cages, or the announced aid to cover 70 percent of the cost of agricultural fencing have not been implemented.
Laso has been particularly harsh with the figures released by the Junta on the capture of 123,000 rabbits in the province, data he has labeled as "falsehood" and "a lie."
In his opinion, these numbers correspond to captures made within the framework of the technical hunting plans of the game reserves, and not to interventions promoted directly by the regional administration. "They have sold smoke and continue to sell it," he criticized.
The head of APAG has warned that the absence of effective measures will allow the rabbit population to continue growing. "The rabbits keep breeding and next year there will be more problems," he warned, emphasizing that "no measure" is being applied to contain their expansion.
He also stressed that the Henares Corridor registers some of the highest rabbit densities in Spain, with between 50 and 100 individuals per hectare, a situation that, as he pointed out, requires new control actions. Along these lines, he accused the regional administration of announcing initiatives "with great fanfare" that do not materialize afterwards.
Given this context, Laso has not ruled out further protests from the sector. He announced that they are considering calling a regional demonstration at the end of July, understanding that the problem now extends beyond Guadalajara and equally affects other provinces of Castilla-La Mancha such as Toledo, Cuenca, Ciudad Real, and Albacete.