Hunting: the Junta suppresses the nominative authorization for using thermal sights

The Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Environment, and Environmental Policy of the Junta de Castilla y León has removed the requirement for a nominative authorization from the hunting rights holder to transport, possess, and use auxiliary hunting devices. This is done through Order AGR/1091/2026, of October 16, published in the Official Gazette of Castilla y León (BOCYL) no. 204, of October 21, 2026, within section I.A of general provisions. The regulation comes into force the day following its publication, that is, October 22.

The order modifies Order AGR/962/2026, of September 25, which authorized the transport, possession, and use of sights with electronic image converters or amplifiers, including thermal sights, under article 32.3 of Law 4/2021, of July 1, on hunting and the sustainable management of hunting resources in Castilla y León. That regulation, published in BOCYL no. 189, of September 29, 2026, required in its third section, letter a), a nominative authorization issued by the hunting rights holder or their legal representative, according to the model available on the Junta de Castilla y León website, Hunting section.

The legal argument: the right to hunt is sufficient

The preamble of the new order justifies the removal based on article 3.4 of Law 4/2021, which recognizes the right to hunt on a piece of land, in addition to the hunting rights holder, for persons authorized by said holder. From this, the Regional Ministry deduces that, if one holds that right, “no other type of authorization is necessary” to use the regulated devices.

With this reasoning, letter a) of the third section is eliminated and the remaining ones are reorganized, while their content remains intact. The nominative authorization therefore ceases to be an autonomous requirement and is absorbed by the authorization already granted by the holder of the hunting ground to those who hunt within it.

What remains prohibited and which conditions are maintained

The removal of the procedure does not alter the catalog of limitations, which is preserved under two conditions:

• The hunter may not fire based exclusively on the thermal signal or the image displayed by the device, and must guarantee the recognition of the species, age, and sex in accordance with article 50.a) 4.º of Law 4/2021, previously identifying the game and verifying its compliance with the granted hunting authorization.
• Outside of the authorized cases and schedules, the devices must remain turned off and be transported in their cases; in motor vehicles, they must be kept out of the immediate reach of the driver and passengers.

The limits of Order AGR/962/2026 remain the same: thermal sights are only authorized for wild boar, red deer, roe deer, fallow deer, and mouflon, during stalking and waiting or ambush, between one hour before sunrise and one hour after sunset; for wild boar in waiting or ambush, they are also permitted outside of this schedule and attached to the weapon. Small game, ibex, chamois, and the modalities of montería (beaten hunting), gancho, jumping, or hand-hunting are excluded.

Updated preamble and appeal process

The order also rewrites the third paragraph of the preamble of the September regulation, which now appeals to the increase in traffic accidents, requests for damages caused by ungulates to agricultural and livestock farms, and the preventive context of One Health. The text invokes the need to “flexibilize” the conditions of use to increase hunting efficiency and favor the captures planned in the hunting plans, and removes the reference that the measure would apply “always under the supervision and authorization of the hunting title holder.”

Failure to comply with these obligations may constitute an administrative offense according to articles 84.17 and 85.19 of Law 4/2021. Against the order, which exhausts the administrative route, an optional appeal for reversal (recurso de reposición) may be filed before the counselor within one month, or a contentious-administrative appeal before the contentious-administrative section of the Court of First Instance of Valladolid within two months. The document was signed in Valladolid on October 16, 2026, by counselor Joaquín Antonio Pino.

The change affects the ordinary practice of big game hunting in Castilla y León: thousands of hunters who until now had to carry a document signed by the owner of the hunting ground will be able to prove their authorization with the right to hunt itself, which reduces formalities in ambushes and stalking, although it keeps the requirements for game identification and transport safety intact.

Source: Official Gazette of Castilla y León, no. 204, of October 21, 2026, section I.A General Provisions, pp. 9-11 (official reference: BOCYL-D-21102026-204-1).