“Agriculture Minister Òscar Ordeig promised this Monday in Montblanc a shock plan for August that would “drastically” reduce the rabbit overpopulation in Segrià and Urgell. Farmers, who have already seen similar announcements unmet, will decide this very night whether the promises are enough to call off the mobilizations that have already cut off the C-14 highway in Tàrrega twice.
The meeting, held in the capital of the Conca de Barberà, pitted the minister against farming organizations that have made it clear they want solutions, not more meetings. The figure that sums up the tension: farmers are gambling this summer’s harvest, and the Government’s calendar promises measures in August and compensation in the fall. A time gap that smacks of political maneuvering when crops are withering under the Ponent sun.
The announcement: a shock plan for August, compensation for fall
According to information published by Segre, Minister Ordeig committed to launching during the month of August a shock plan to “drastically” reduce the rabbit overpopulation in the regions of Segrià and Urgell. The plague, which farmers have denounced as unsustainable for months, has caused millions in losses to stone fruit, cereal, and forage crops, and has led farmers to block the C-14 highway twice in recent weeks.
The plan also includes a promise for the fall: the presentation of a “compensation proposal” for damage caused by wildlife, as well as the “flexibilization” of restrictions such as irrigation limits in Special Protection Areas for Birds (ZEPA). These areas, designed to protect species like the little bustard or the great bustard, have been singled out by farmers as a bureaucratic hurdle preventing effective crop management and, they claim, favoring rabbit proliferation by limiting agricultural work.
The minister, however, offered no concrete figures on the plan’s budget nor detailed what methods would be used to control the rabbit population. The ambiguity of the announcement, in a context of maximum tension, leaves farmers wondering whether the Government is willing to move from words to deeds.
Tonight’s decision: mobilizations on hold
The Montblanc meeting was not an endpoint but a pause in the road. The farming organizations calling for the mobilizations have announced that this very night, after analyzing the minister’s proposals, they will decide whether to maintain or call off the protests. The decision will be made in local assemblies and through direct contacts with grassroots farmers, who have suffered the plague’s damage firsthand.
The immediate precedent is the second blockade of the C-14 in Tàrrega, a protest action that managed to paralyze traffic on one of the main communication routes in the Ponent regions. Farmers demonstrated then that they are willing to take pressure to the limit if they don’t see results. The question hanging in the air is whether Ordeig’s shock plan is enough to calm tempers or if, on the contrary, it will be perceived as another patch that fails to address the root problem.
The tension is compounded by the context of damaged infrastructure already reported by Segre in its Monday edition: the theft of copper on the R13-R14 line between Lleida and Les Borges Blanques forced train service to halt, affecting the mobility of farm workers and the logistics of distributing agricultural products. The rabbit crisis is not an isolated issue but adds to a long list of grievances that Lleida’s farmers have endured for years: drought, environmental bureaucracy, lack of generational renewal, and prices that don’t cover production costs.
ZEPA, rabbits, and the bureaucracy suffocating the countryside
The mention of ZEPA in Ordeig’s announcement is no coincidence. These protection zones, established in application of the European Union’s Birds Directive, have been increasingly contested by Lleida’s farmers, who believe the imposed restrictions are disproportionate and fail to consider the productive reality of the Ponent regions.
In Segrià and Urgell, the ZEPAs cover vast areas of irrigated crops, where the presence of steppe birds like the little bustard or great bustard justifies restrictions on irrigation, phytosanitary treatments, and clearing work. Farmers argue that these restrictions, combined with a lack of natural predators (foxes, birds of prey), have created ideal conditions for rabbits to breed uncontrollably, devouring entire harvests.
The minister has promised to “flexibilize” those restrictions, but has not detailed how or within what timeframe. Farmers’ experience with the Catalan administration does not inspire optimism: regulatory changes in environmental matters usually require lengthy evaluation and consultation processes, and rarely translate into immediate measures on the ground. In the meantime, the rabbits keep eating.
The plan’s credibility: past promises and present distrust
Lleida’s farmers have heard similar promises in the past. The previous agriculture minister also announced a rabbit control plan that, according to farming organizations, was never implemented with the necessary force. Authorized culls were insufficient, capture methods proved ineffective, and the bureaucracy for requesting hunting or clearing permits remained an obstacle.
Ordeig’s announcement, therefore, comes in a climate of skepticism. Farmers demand immediate results: authorization for massive culls, removal of barriers to eliminating burrows, and acceleration of damage compensation. The promise of a plan for August and compensation for fall sounds like an attempt to buy time, while the stone fruit harvest (peach, nectarine, pear) is in full swing and rabbits run wild.
Tonight’s decision will thus be a credibility test for the minister. If farmers call off the mobilizations, they will give the plan a vote of confidence, but with the warning that they will be watching. If, on the contrary, they decide to maintain pressure, the Government will face a new scenario of protests in the middle of summer, with the risk of the conflict spreading to other regions affected by the plague.
Conclusion: the clock is ticking for the minister and for Lleida’s countryside
The rabbit crisis in Segrià and Urgell is neither a minor nor a passing problem. It is the tip of the iceberg for an agriculture sector suffocating between environmental bureaucracy, lack of profitability, and pressure from wildlife that, without natural predators or effective human control, has become a devastating plague. Minister Ordeig has taken a first step by acknowledging the seriousness of the problem and announcing measures, but the gap between promises and actions remains enormous.
Tonight, Lleida’s farmers decide whether the shock plan deserves a chance or whether, on the contrary, the only way to be heard is to block roads again. The Government, for its part, should take note that the countryside’s patience has run out. No more meetings without solutions, nor plans that dissolve in the bureaucratic calendar. The harvest does not wait, and neither do the rabbits. If the minister wants to prevent the protest from becoming a permanent conflict, he will have to prove that his plan is not another empty gesture, but a real, immediate intervention with sufficient resources to restore control to those who work the land. The ball is in his court, and the clock is ticking.”