Cultural Heritage initiates the declaration of falconry as an asset of cultural interest

The General Directorate of Cultural Heritage, of the Ministry of Culture, Language and Youth, has initiated the procedure to declare falconry, the traditional art of hunting with birds of prey, as an asset of cultural interest of intangible heritage. The resolution, signed on September 22, 2026, by the general director Ángel Miramontes Carballada, is published in the Official Gazette of Galicia number 188, of October 2, 2026, in section III of other provisions, page 51161, with the official reference CVE-DOG: 15ogpou6-7xn9-jcd2-ue06-9trygfeq59r1. The agreement opens a one-month period of public information and orders the preventive registration of the manifestation in the Registry of Assets of Cultural Interest of Galicia.

The initiation is processed under Law 5/2016, of May 4, on the cultural heritage of Galicia, and Decree 430/1991, of December 30, which regulates the processing of declarations of assets of cultural interest and creates the corresponding registry. The regional competence derives from article 149.1.28 of the Constitution and article 27 of the Statute of Autonomy, and the file already contains the two favorable and reasoned reports on the outstanding cultural value required by article 18.2 of the law.

The request came from the community bearing the manifestation, which presented it to the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage on October 2, 2025. The analysis of the technical services concludes that falconry is configured as an outstanding intangible manifestation of Galicia and, therefore, is susceptible to being declared an asset of cultural interest.

An art of four thousand years recognized by UNESCO

Falconry consists of breeding, domesticating, and training birds of prey to hunt wild animals in their natural environment. Its origin dates back about four thousand years and its knowledge has been transmitted from generation to generation; on November 16, 2010, UNESCO declared it an intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

Annex I of the resolution places it in three categories of article 9.3.a) of the LPCG: social practices, rituals, ceremonies and festive events; knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe; and traditional craftsmanship techniques, productive activities and processes. The recognized interest is ethnological.

The practice is spread throughout the Galician geography: cynogenetic hunting, domestic breeding, biological control of fauna in airports, crops and monumental heritage, environmental education and therapies oriented towards people with special sensitivities. The enabled hunting season usually coincides with the general closed season, from mid-October to early January, while breeding in captivity takes place between February and the end of July.

Associations and bearing community

Annex II identifies in Galicia an active, structured, and cohesive bearing community, articulated around entities that maintain the transmission of falconry knowledge:

• Galician Association of Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey (AGECCA)
• AGCCA falconry (Sports Association of Falconers)
• Galician Falconry Society
• Galician Hunting Federation, which protects the modality as a regulated hunting discipline

Among the safeguarding activities promoted by these entities are official competitions and flight meetings, traditional hunting days with intergenerational participation, fairs and public exhibitions, talks and training actions, specialized publications, regulated training, and digital forums. The official calendar of the Galician Hunting Federation includes open trials and the Galician Falconry Championship.

Deadlines, public information, and safeguarding measures

• The file must be resolved within a maximum period of twenty-four months counted from the date of the resolution; after this period without an express resolution, the administrative procedure will expire.
• The resolution orders the preventive registration of falconry in the Registry of Assets of Cultural Interest of Galicia and the communication to the General Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the State.
• A public information period of one month is opened, counted from the day following its publication in the DOG, so that any natural or legal person may consult the file and present the allegations they consider appropriate.
• The file can be examined at the Inventory Service, in the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage (San Caetano administrative building, block 3, 2nd floor, Santiago de Compostela), by requesting a prior appointment.
• The resolution will be published in the Official Gazette of Galicia and in the Official State Gazette, and will be notified to the interested persons and entities.

The declaration would place falconry at the maximum level of protection of Galician cultural heritage and open the way to measures of identification, documentation, promotion, and transmission. For falconers, associations, and involved councils, the procedure now opens one month for allegations before the Council of the Xunta decides by decree.

Source: Official Gazette of Galicia (DOG), no. 188, October 2, 2026, III. Other provisions, p. 51161 (official reference: CVE-DOG: 15ogpou6-7xn9-jcd2-ue06-9trygfeq59r1).