The High Court suspends the hunting of five species in Castilla y León

The High Court of Justice of Castilla y León has provisionally set to zero the maximum number of specimens of five bird species that each hunter may bag per day. This decision is detailed in Order AGR/1224/2026, of November 10, published in the Official Gazette of Castilla y León No. 219, of November 12, 2026 (pp. 100-101), which complies with the operative part of a judicial order. The suspension will remain in effect until a final judgment is rendered.

The regional order reproduces the Order of November 4, 2026, issued by the Administrative Litigation Chamber, 1st Section, of the High Court of Justice of Castilla y León, based in Valladolid, in the separate precautionary measures proceeding 1199/2026. The origin of the litigation is Order AGR/743/2026, of July 29, which establishes protection measures for game species, published in the “Official Gazette of Castilla y León” No. 151, of August 6, 2026, and later corrected in No. 155, of August 12, where it was clarified that the use of the CAPTURCYL application for the electronic registration of catches is optional for hunters authorized by the game rights holders.

Against this regulation, the Spanish Ornithological Society (SEO/BirdLife) filed an administrative appeal before the same Chamber, registered as Ordinary Procedure 1199/2026, in which it requested the adoption of precautionary measures for reasons of urgency. The Chamber found that “circumstances of urgency” exist that justify anticipatory protection while the merits of the case are resolved.

The scope of the order

The operative part of the order, fully adopted by the regional ministry, mandates that “until a final judgment is rendered in this proceeding, the maximum number of specimens to be bagged per hunter per day set by the first resolution of the Order shall be provisionally set at zero.” The suspension does not affect all game species, but rather five, identified by their common name and scientific designation:

• Eurasian Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola).
• Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus).
• Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago).
• Jack Snipe (Lymnocryptes minimus).
• Eurasian Wigeon (Mareca penelope).

The order does not annul Order AGR/743/2026 in its entirety: it only suspends the daily bag limit for these five birds, meaning that the rest of the protection regulations for game species remain in force.

Publication and mandatory compliance

The Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Environment, and Environmental Policy publishes the ruling “for general knowledge and compliance, in its own terms,” as required by Article 118 of the Spanish Constitution, Article 17.2 of Organic Law 6/1985, of July 1, of the Judiciary, and Article 134.2 of Law 29/1998, of July 13, regulating the Contentious-Administrative Jurisdiction. The order bears the signature of the regional minister Joaquín Antonio Pino, dated in Valladolid on November 10, 2026.

The text recalls that the measure entails the suspension of the application of the first resolution of Order AGR/743/2026 and that its compliance is mandatory from the publication in the bulletin, without the Official Gazette of Castilla y León recording any date for the final judgment that would end the proceedings.

A zero quota in the middle of the season

The practical consequence is that, while the lawsuit lasts, no hunter in the community may take specimens of these five birds, regardless of what their hunting title authorizes and what their hunting plan permits. The measure arrives with the hunting season underway and is added to the control obligations already provided for in the sectoral regulations, including the registration of captures through CAPTURCYL, which the protection order itself contemplates.

The litigation remains open: SEO/BirdLife maintains Ordinary Procedure 1199/2026 before the Contentious-Administrative Chamber based in Valladolid, which must rule on the merits of Order AGR/743/2026. Until then, the zero quota is the current rule, and any capture of Eurasian woodcock, Eurasian stone-curlew, common snipe, jack snipe, or Eurasian curlew is outside of what is permitted.

Source: Official Gazette of Castilla y León, no. 219, of November 12, 2026, I. Community of Castilla y León, D. Other Provisions, pp. 100-101 (official reference: BOCYL-D-12112026-219-18).