In Boca de Huérganoa town in the León region of Riaño, have just been involved in a loud controversy that has unleashed the anger of the province’s farmers and generated a heated debate between neighbors, businessmen who make a living from tourism and ranchers who graze their flocks. The curious thing, however, is not the scope of the dispute nor that it has transcended the borders of Boca de Huérgano to win a national impact. No. The curious thing is what is at the epicenter of the debate: the dung that cows and sheep leave in their wake.
The Leonese City Council has tried to have the ranchers themselves collect the manure from their cattle, a requirement that did not sit too well with the sector. The result: Boca de Huérgano has not taken long to Go backwards.
The ordinance of controversy. The origin of the controversy is in an ordinance approved by the plenary session of the Boca de Huérgano City Council two months ago, on April 25. The new norm, which was announced through the Official Gazette of the Province (BOP) of León and can be consulted in full at this link, basically regulated “the care of animals in their exploitation, transportation, experimentation and slaughter.” So far nothing exceptional.
What sparked the debate is the sixth article of the text, the one dedicated to “common standards” for animals. There the Consistory clarified a series of guidelines, such as that to travel on roads, livestock must be controlled by its owner or that cows, sheep and other animals could not remain in public areas at night to “avoid inconvenience” to neighbors. The older ones, another rule slipped in, this one being more controversial: ranchers were required to collect manure.
Click on the image to go to the tweet.
“They will be responsible”. The rule was very clear. Basically it required that after the passage of the animals the streets were left clean, without remains of dung. “In the event of deposition on the road or public space when they are traveling through the urban area, their possessors or owners will be responsible for removing the excrement and cleaning it,” needed. What’s more, the ordinance even classified leaving abandoned manure as a “minor infraction,” although it did not clarify what consequences or sanctions, if any, the rancher would face.
Anger of the sector. Although it brings together eight other locationsBoca de Huérgano is a small town, barely 435 neighbors. Its size, however, did not prevent the ordinance from generating discomfort among ranchers throughout the region. At the end of May the agricultural organization ASAJA launched a resounding statement in which he demanded that the Junta de Castilla y León challenge the rule. Their main argument was that the Consistory had invaded the powers of other administrations, although the ranchers did not hide their discomfort with the sixth article, that of manure.
“The ordinance contributes nothing relevant to what has already been legislated, except for obliging livestock owners to ‘remove their excrement when traveling on roads or public spaces’,” lamented the professional group, which was very harsh with the City Council. First, he accused him of not having the means to comply with the controls included in the ordinance. Second, he criticized his lack of “empathy” with ranchers just when the sector “complains about the excessive bureaucratic burden.”
…and retreat from the Consistory. Such was the impact of the measure that the City Council ended up backing down. Just a few days after ASAJA’s statement and the news circulating in media throughout the country, its mayor, Tomás de la Sierra, confirmed to The Spanish Newspaper his intention to leave things as they were. “It’s common sense, but after the controversy we have decided to withdraw the ordinance. The main reason was not to harm the winners.”
The first mayor stressed that the ordinance wanted to guarantee “the health of the streets” and that its objective was “to have the town as clean as possible”, but admitted that the City Council made the “mistake” of transposing regional regulations that would increase the burden administrative of livestock farmers. “Things were included that were not relevant, and the ranchers rightly protested because they were forced to duplicate the papers they had to present to the Board and City Hall.”
Click on the image to go to the tweet.
Question of livestock… and tourism. To understand the controversy you have to understand Boca de Huérgano, a small town in the Riaño region in which people gather around a dozen and a half of livestock, but which also has an important tourist profile. EPE specifies that in the area there are around twenty hostels, hotels, rural houses, bars and restaurants that benefit from visitors who come to the Riaño to enjoy rural tourism getaways.
“We all have to live together. It’s not pleasant to go out into the street and meet them,” a hotelier from the region admitted to the newspaper when talking about the dung that cattle leave in their wake. Another businessman dedicated to tourism recalled that the measure is not very different from what is already applied with dogs. “In any place in Spain you go with your bag if you have one and collect the excrement. The owners live with the rest of the people, right? In this case it is the same,” claimed.
Where I said ordinance, I say side. Although the City Council has chosen to withdraw the ordinance, de la Sierra insists in which the town must also ensure its attractiveness for visitors. Hence, after renouncing the municipal rule, he already plans to issue a statement with “recommendations” for ranchers. “We have to take care of tourism and maintain health in the streets […]. It will depend on each person’s civility, but if manure appears on the streets, throw a bit of a broom. “The ranchers are not going to be fined or persecuted,” guarantees the Boca councilor.
The Leonese town is not the first that has to find the complicated balance between tourism and livestock farming. In France they have already legislated on the matter and recently in Spain a town from Segovia, Duruelo, came to install a sign to warn its tourists: “It’s not for you if you can’t adapt.”
Images | Ben Grantham (Flickr) and Asqueladd (Wikipedia)
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