Castilla-La Mancha approves the new hunting regulation with 135 articles

The Governing Council of Castilla-La Mancha approved on September 29, 2026, Decree 56/2026, which approves the new General Regulation for the application of Law 3/2015, of March 5, on Hunting in Castilla-La Mancha. The regulation is published in the Official Gazette of Castilla-La Mancha no. 190, of October 2, 2026, under reference 2026/7048, and enters into force the day following its publication. The text replaces the regulation annulled by the High Court of Justice of Castilla-La Mancha in December 2024.

The new regulation comes after Judgment no. 234/2024, of December 2, of the Contentious-Administrative Chamber (1st Section) of the TSJCM declared the previous implementing regulation, Decree 15/2022, of March 1, published in DOCM no. 42 on March 2, 2022, to be null and void. The court considered that the lack of the mandatory report from the Regional Hunting Council substantially violated the procedure for drafting the regulation.

The decree consists of a single article, one additional provision, three transitional provisions, one repealing provision, and four final provisions, and was signed in Toledo on September 29, 2026, by President Emiliano García-Page Sánchez and the Councilor for Sustainable Development, Mª Mercedes Gómez Rodríguez. It repeals, among other regulations, Decree 141/1996, of December 9, and Decree 8/2014, of January 30, except for matters relating to the registry of birds of prey.

A regulation of 135 articles and eight titles

The text is organized into a Preliminary Title and eight titles, with 135 articles and an annex on falconry species. Among the novelties are:

• The Registry of Game Species in Captivity (ALECTORIS).
• The Registry of Birds of Prey and Falconry of Castilla-La Mancha (FALCON).
• The registry of external game farms.
• The recovery of the figure of the game land warden.
• The certification of game quality and the definition of professional game holders.

Lead-free ammunition and transitional regime

The first transitional provision sets a period of five years, from the date of entry into force, for the application of the prohibition on firing and transporting lead ammunition provided for in articles 34.2.a) and 46.d). This period does not apply to hunting in wetlands or in their one-hundred-meter protection zone from their outer boundary, nor to the stalking of big game in social hunting grounds, publicly owned collective hunting areas, and public utility forests.

The second transitional provision automatically extends the registration of already registered external game farms until the new resolution is notified. The third allows authorized commercial hunting quarters and wild boar and common quail game farms to continue operating under the same terms.

Game reserves, minimum areas, and commercial hunting

Article 67 requires a minimum continuous area of 250 hectares to establish a game reserve. Main hunting enclosures must enclose at least 1,000 continuous hectares, and the commercial hunting area cannot exceed 20 percent of the total area of the reserve, the remainder of which may not be less than 1,000 hectares.

The species subject to commercial or intensive hunting are, for big game, red deer and fallow deer, and for small game, pheasant, red-legged partridge, mallard, and collared dove.

Electronic processing and changes in fishing and falconry

The regulation adapts the procedures to electronic processing and modifies the river fishing regulation approved by Decree 91/1994, of September 13, to eliminate the allocation of permits via lottery and allow for their electronic acquisition. It also modifies article 9.3 of Decree 8/2014 regarding falconry.

The regulation restores legal certainty to hunters, game reserves, and rural landowners following the judicial annulment of the previous regulation, and reinforces hunting as a socioeconomic activity of the rural environment, with attention to generational renewal and the incorporation of women.

Source: Official Gazette of Castilla-La Mancha, no. 190, October 2, 2026, I.- General Provisions, page 33621 (official reference: 2026/7048).