A montería () is an ancient type of driven hunt endemic to Spain. It involves the tracking, chase and killing of big-game, typically red deer, wild boar, fallow deer and mouflon. A number of "rehalas" (packs of hounds) along with their respective "rehaleros" (unarmed beaters) will stir up an area of forest with the aim of forcing the game to move around and into the shooting pegs, where hunters will be able to fire.Florentino Pérez-Embid, Enciclopedia de la cultura española, Vol. 2, Editoria Nacional (Madrid, 1962), pp. 228–229Roberto Gazzari, Caza y fauna en Neuquén, Vol. 1, Siringa Libros (1978), p. 54
Although big-game driven hunts with dogs have existed in Spain since antiquity, the earliest records of monterías date back to the Late Middle Ages in the Crown of Castile, as can be seen with king Alfonso XI and his "Libro de la montería", published in the first half of the 14th century. Modern monterías in the Spanish sense are the result of around 300 years of evolution from the most primitive hunts that were common in the Middle Ages.
As of today, two types of monterías exist; namely the "montería española" or "a la española", practised throughout the southern half of Spain and Portugal and the "montería norteña", typical of the northern half of Spain. While the latter is very similar to the rest of driven hunts occurring elsewhere in Europe, the former is culturally unique. Albeit, when monterías are brought up in the foreign context, it is almost always in reference to the former. Historians refer to the period 1915–1931 in rural Spain as the "época de oro de la montería española" (golden age of the Spanish montería).Antonio Gil Olcina & Alfredo Morales Gil, Medio siglo de cambios agrarios en España, Instituto de Cultura "Juan Gil-Albert" (Diputación Provincial de Alicante, 1993), p. 204Víctor Rodríguez, "'El marqués de Viana y la caza', un libro sobre los años dorados de la montería" in Expansión, 7 February 2017
The season for monterías depends on the autonomous communities of Spain, as each of them establish their own calendars every year, but it is almost unexceptionally the same from one to the other. They are celebrated from mid-October until mid-February or in some cases the last weekend of said month.
The sport is controversial, particularly in Spain. Advocates of monterías view it as an intrinsic part of rural economies, as well as necessary for conservation and population controls, whereas opponents argue on the grounds of animal cruelty and lack of necessity (the collected meat is nonetheless taken advantage of fully, and provides a sustainable and natural free range food source).ABC: La montería y la rehala como patrimonio cultural – 5 August 2020 In 2016, a study by Deloitte estimated that hunting in Spain generated about €6.5 billion of Spain's GDP, amounting to 0.3% of the country's economy and 187,000 jobs, monterías being a significant part of this.El Mundo: La caza defiende su actividad con cifras – 19 April 2018La Vanguardia: La caza genera 6.475 millones de euros anuales en España y emplea a casi 187.000 personas, según un estudio – 19 April 2018Expansión: La caza mueve 6.475 millones en España – 20 April 2018
History
The first exhaustive works on hunting date back to the Late Middle Ages, when different royal houses and European nobles of Castile, Portugal, France, Germany etc. were commissioned the drafting of Hunting Treaties, the favourite activity of the ruling classes at that time, of which there are still a few in existence: "Libro de la montería" by Alfonso XI (14th century)
"Tratado de la montería" by an unknown hunter from Sierra de Segura (15th century) "Le livre de chasse du roy Modus" (15th century) by Gaston III, Count of Foix (14th century) "Livro da Montaria" of the King John I of Portugal (14th century)
During the Middle Ages, different types of hunting were known in the Iberian Peninsula. Two very peculiar types were net hunting and vulture hunting, carried out mainly in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula to hunt wolf.
However, the most common form of hunting throughout Spain and Portugal was that in which, prior to the actual hunt, the prey bedding place was sought by following the trail of the chosen animal with the help of a hound, to, once the location of the bed was known, place Alanos and sighthounds in strategic places of passage of said animal in order to catch it. To launch the animal towards the hunting pegs, the bed was approached with hounds and chased by hunters on foot and on horseback to try and catch the game.
During the Middle Ages in Spain, this type of hunting was carried out mainly for hunting Cantabrian brown bears and wild boars, whereas in France it was more common with red deer.
From the Renaissance and especially since the widespread of firearms in the 16th and 17th centuries, medieval hunting evolved according to each territory and country, in modalities that today differ greatly from each other, such as hunting in the north of Spain (montería norteña or batida), the French "venerie" (on foot) and the "grande venerie" (on horseback), fox hunting in the United Kingdom or montería española or "a la española" in southern Spain and Portugal.
Montería española
This type of hunt, much larger in extent, is carried out mainly in the centre and south of the Iberian Peninsula, including the entirety of Portugal, where it has been adopted more recently. Its existence is the result of an evolution that dates back to the 18th century. Prior to the appearance of modern "Spanish monterías", hunting in southern Spain and Portugal and was very similar to the "montería norteña", the one that is still carried out in the northern half of Spain. This was apparent in the book "Tratado de la montería" published by the Duke of Almazán on a 15th-century work by an Andalusian hunter from the Sierra de Segura. It is the most effective approach to harvesting big-game animals. In 1984, more than 35,000 stags had been taken that season in monterías, that number being likely much higher today.
Wild boars and Iberian red deer are the most common species to be hunted in this type of montería, but also other species such as fallow deer, mouflon and formerly wolf and lynx.Jesús Ángel Cecilia Gómez, "Especies cinegéticas españolas: descripción, modalidades de caza y trofeos" in Agricultura y Sociedad, Ministerio de Agricultura, No. 58 (Mar., 1991), p. 61 In a forest or patch of several hundred hectares a series of so-called "armadas" or lines of positions with shooting pegs, are arranged to surround and cover the mancha. Depending on their particular location in it, the armadas are called by various names ("cuerda" is the highest; "sopié" the lowest; "traviesa" is the one that crosses or is generally found in the middle of the area). From a certain end, or from more than one, the rehalas are released, and led by their respective beaters. They will beat the area in different directions with the ultimate aim of moving the game towards the hunting pegs.
Each rehala has between 10 and 20 dogs and is led by a "rehalero", "perrero" or "podenquero". The base of most of the rehalas dedicated to "southern-style hunting" consist of hound-type dogs (podenco andaluz), although those that are somewhat more specialised in wild boar use preferably mongrels of Spanish Mastiff, catch dogs, podenco or griffon.
A traditional rehala dedicated to hunting deer and wild boar, is normally made up of a majority of pure podencos, a minority of hounds and mastiff mongrels and a pure mastiff or catching dog collars (often alano or dogo).
This type of hunting consists of the use of a very high number of dogs that, led by their drivers, beat the ground to hunt in order to direct all kinds of animals towards the hunters (generally deer, wild boar, fallow deer and mouflon).
The dogs used in this type of hunting are generally not suitable for hunting in the traditional European manner.
It is not a selective modality, except for the instructions that can be given at the beginning of the hunt on the type of animals on which it is possible to shoot or not, and the selection made by the hunter at the time of shooting, knowing that in doing so he reveals his position more. For this reason, the most experienced hunters will avoid shooting on animals of little hunting value while waiting for what they consider worthwhile.
Species that are currently shot in monterías españolas include:
Wild boar (usually) Stag (usually) Fallow deer (usually) Mouflon (usually) Red fox (occasionally) Roe deer (rarely)
Iberian wolves were shot in Spanish monterías until 1992, when the European Union Court declared it a "protected species south of the Douro river".Rafael Méndez, "El tribunal corrige a la Junta y prohíbe cazar lobos al sur del Duero" in El País, 21 November 2009 Iberian lynxes were also regularly hunted until they became almost extinct and were protected in 1970 in the entirety of the Iberian Peninsula.Grupo Lince de la Sociedad Española para la Conservación y Estudio de los Mamíferos, Lince Ibérico: aspectos jurídicos para la conservación de la especie, SECEM, Imagraf (Málaga, 2010), pp. 31-33
If not by invitation, the price per peg of a commercial Spanish montería is anywhere between €250 and €6,000.
Procedure
A montería usually begins anywhere between 8 and 10 in the morning. With the first light of the day, the huntsmen begin to arrive at the finca or grounds where the hunt will take place. There, a traditional breakfast of migas (a dish made from fried breadcrumbs and typically accompanied with a fried egg, green peppers, garlic and either chorizo, torreznos or both) is usually served. After breakfast, the owner of the grounds or captain of the montería gives a speech where he provides detailed information on the game quotas, species, genders and characteristics (age, quality) of animals that can be shot, as well as explaining the safety procedures and timings etc. He will often finalise his speech by a prayer and at times, this is concluded with a group cry "¡Viva España y viva la Virgen de la Cabeza!" (long live Spain and the Virgin of Cabeza) or "¡Viva España y viva el rey!" (long live Spain and the king). The relevance of the virgin is that it is the patron saint of monterías and "monteros". Depending on the type of montería, the pegs will then be drawn randomly or previously adjudicated to each "montero". Hunters will then meet up with their respective "postores" and "armadas", to be led by them to their assigned shooting pegs.
Between 10 and 12 in the morning, and after every hunter is already in their peg, the release of dogs takes place. The dogs will scramble through the forest to force the game to leave their shelter and enter the hunting area.
Between 2 and 4 in the afternoon, the hunting is usually finalised, and this is communicated through a series of conches, once the dogs have finished their work. Straight after this, the hunter must mark his kills. Ideally, an identifying tag on the harvested animal(s) and/or on a nearby tree or bush will be placed as a visible sign, so that the "arrieros" and their mules can easily find it. The hunters then return to the house to enjoy lunch and comment on the montería. A typical lunch will normally consist of a warm spoon dish, usually a cocido, soup or puchero.
During the afternoon, the harvested animals begin to arrive to the house or meeting point, where the hunters will be able to appreciate them collectively and will normally take photographs. This is called the "junta de carnes" (literally meat gathering). Veterinaries and butchers will then proceed to extract the healthy animals' meat, which is, together with the trophies, almost always the owner's property, although the latter are usually given away for the hunter to keep as a token.