Pedro Bestard manages to impose hunting on the public estates of Mallorca

PalmaPedro Bestard has managed to push forward one of his main bets at the head of the Department of Environment of the Council of Mallorca: opening public estates to the practice of hunting. The island institution has approved a regulation that will allow hunting with a shotgun and pointing dog for ten days of the 2026-2027 season and to recover the traditional hunting of thrushes with nets at the public estate of Tossals Verds. The decision culminates an initiative that the second vice president of the Council and leader of Vox began to promote in 2025 and has sparked criticism from MÉS per Mallorca, which accuses him of turning the public natural heritage into his "private hunting ground".

In fact, according to sources consulted by ARA Balears, opening public estates to hunting was not a priority for the president of the Council, the Popular Party's Llorenç Galmés, who had also shown no interest in promoting this measure. Even so, Galmés has ended up accepting once again the demands of Vox, which has managed to push forward its pro-hunting agenda from the Department of Environment. The decision once again highlights the weight of the far-right party within the island government and the concessions of the PP to its partner.

The measure also arrives at a politically delicate moment for Bestard, after the Prosecutor's Office opened proceedings for alleged embezzlement following the use of the Council's official cars. The institution's internal reports found that the councillor had had three vehicles at his exclusive disposal without any formal assignment and had made trips that did not appear on his official agenda. Despite considering that this conduct was not appropriate, the Council decided not to sanction him. However, the reports did not categorically prove the improper use of the vehicles either.

Now, Bestard sees the materialization of one of the initiatives he has defended during his term: introducing hunting activity on public estates managed by his department. As announced this Thursday by the Council, the new regulation, published in the Official Gazette of the Balearic Islands (BOIB), provides for ten days to hunt thrushes with a shotgun and pointing dog. Participation will require prior registration and places will be awarded by lottery.

The first sessions will be on November 12, 19, and 26. The registration period will open on October 28 and end on November 3. Subsequently, there will be two more calls for the sessions in December and those in January and February 2027. The Hunting Service will assign the estates according to availability and organizational needs, and participants must report the catches made.

An initiative announced at a hunting fair in Madrid

The decision is not improvised: in March 2025, Bestard already announced, during a visit to the Cinegética Fair in Madrid, that the Council had begun the procedures to allow hunting on public estates. Among the spaces that figured in that initiative were Tossals Verds, Son Fortuny, Son Massip, So n'Amer and Coma d'en Vidal.

At that time, the head of the Environment department argued that the declaration of game preserves and the certification of hunting quality would allow reconciling hunting with the conservation of the Majorcan wild goat populations. The institution presented the initiative as a tool for wildlife management, through censuses and monitoring of the populations.

The proposal continued to advance and, during the last season, the department promoted pilot tests on public estates such as Tossals Verds and Son Fortuny. Now, with the regulation approved for the 2026-2027 season, that initiative ceases to be a one-off test and now has a calendar of hunting days.

The new regulation also plans to recover the traditional hunting of thrushes with nets at passes in Tossals Verds. To do this, at least six passes will be rehabilitated, with the possibility of reaching twelve, especially in historical locations that retain the toponym. In this case, participation will be channeled through the associations integrated into the Hunting Council, which will manage the shifts among the members.

The Council maintains that the activities will be carried out in an "orderly and regulated" manner, under the supervision of environmental agents. However, the official statement does not specify what access limitations will be established for hikers and other users of the estates during the hunting days.

MÉS denounces that Bestard puts his hobbies before the general interest

The decision has provoked a harsh response from MÉS per Mallorca. The eco-sovereigntist spokesperson at the Council, Catalina Inés Perelló, accuses Bestard of having confused his institutional responsibilities with his private hobbies.

"Public estates belong to all Mallorcans, not to Pedro Bestard's private backyard. If he wants to go hunting, he should not use everyone's heritage to satisfy his whims," warned Perelló.

The party considers that opening these spaces to recreational hunting means altering the management priorities of a heritage that should be primarily destined for nature conservation, environmental education, and public enjoyment.

"Bestard seems to have confused the responsibilities of his office with his private hobbies. He is not the Hunting Councilor for his friends; he is the Environment Councilor for all Mallorcans. His duty is to protect public estates, not to turn them into a custom hunting ground," the spokesperson criticized.

MÉS also questions the consequences that hunting activity may have for hikers, families, and people who regularly visit these spaces. "It makes no sense for the Council to promote hiking and access to nature while, at the same time, wanting to introduce an activity that can generate risks, conflicts of use, and limitations for the rest of the visitors," noted Perelló.

The party insists that it is necessary to differentiate between controlling animal populations for conservation reasons and opening public spaces to recreational hunting. "Managing animal populations with scientific and environmental criteria is one thing, and opening the doors of public estates so that a few can go hunting is something very different," she remarked.

A councilor under the scrutiny of the Public Prosecutor's Office over public cars

The new decision puts Bestard back at the center of the controversy. Last August, the Public Prosecutor's Office opened proceedings after the PSIB reported the alleged fraudulent use of the institution's official vehicles.

The complaint was filed following journalistic reports on the use of Consell cars without institutional identification and the councillor's trips to Vox events, as well as the presence of official vehicles in front of his home.

The reports commissioned by the island president, Llorenç Galmés, confirmed the exclusive use of three vehicles without any formal authorization to justify it. They also detected at least twenty trips that did not appear on the councillor's public agenda. Among the trips examined were those related to hunting activities, such as the Madrid hunting fair. The report from the Environment Department itself was conclusive and very clear, but the institution's secretary was not, as he tried to save Bestard.

The technicians concluded that this conduct was not appropriate, but that it could not be categorically determined that improper use of the vehicles had occurred. The island government opted not to sanction Bestard and to regulate the use of official cars through a new instruction. However, the case reached the Public Prosecutor's Office, which opened proceedings to investigate whether the facts could constitute a crime of embezzlement. Bestard has maintained that the questioned trips were in response to his institutional activity and has denied having used the vehicles for private purposes.

Among the documented episodes is a trip to Madrid to attend the Cinegética Fair in March 2026, together with his chief of staff. According to the Consell's internal report, both traveled by ferry to Dénia and then traveled by official car to Madrid. The total cost of the trip amounted to 2,612 euros. The technicians also examined another trip to Madrid to attend meetings of the Spanish Hunting Federation, for which there was no prior authorization or justification report.