Agroparc Gelida, institutional silence and the disprotection of wildlife in Catalonia

We are facing a serious threat to the survival of the pair of Bonelli's eagles in Gelida. Ametller Origen is carrying out large earthworks within the critical hunting area, without having provided a new habitat or having demonstrated their displacement through radio tracking. The company plans an excavation volume in this space of 724,482.88 m3 of earth, an extraordinary volume, equivalent to nearly 300 Olympic swimming pools.

If the works are not stopped immediately, the consequences will be irreversible!

The Bonelli's eagle in Catalonia, a threatened bird

The Bonelli's eagle (Aquila fasciata) is one of the most threatened birds of prey in Europe, especially in the western part of the continent, such as the Iberian Peninsula. Although its protection is guaranteed by the European, state and regional legislation, this is not always sufficient, as the pressure on its habitat is excessive and increasing, this is not always enough, as the pressure on its habitat is excessive and increasing.

This species is one of the most genuinely Mediterranean predators. In Catalonia, there are 80 pairs, which are mainly located in the province of Tarragona and the south of Barcelona, where one of the major problems for the eagle is precisely the impact on breeding, hunting, or resting areas due to the construction of infrastructure.

In Catalonia, there are not few parks of renewable energy, electric lines and new industrial estates that generate strong opposition from the public and environmental defence entities, often confronting the administrations themselves, due to the impacts caused on the habitat of the Bonelli's eagle.

Some of these projects apart from the Agroparc de Gelida include the logistics estate of Les Planes del Vent in Masots de la Bisbal del Penedès, the Lotte battery components factory in Mont-roig del Camp, the biogas plant in Campredó, the expansion of the PI Catalunya Sud between Tortosa and l’Aldea, and many more.

Urbanising the vital areas of protected wildlife should be an exceptional measure and in principle contrary to conservation regulations that should be avoided whenever there is an alternative. And in those exceptional cases where damage to the vital habitat of protected wildlife is unavoidable and is duly justified and endorsed by the competent administrations, compensatory measures are the essential tool to restore or replace the lost ecological value.

Unfortunately, in Catalonia we are seeing cases like the expansion of the airport for which the EU has opened a file to the Generalitat for non-compliance with environmental compensations with which it committed in 2002.

The booted eagle of Gelida, in serious danger

One of the closest pairs of booted eagles to the metropolitan area of Barcelona is that of Gelida, in Alt Penedès, and is currently threatened by the Agroparc project of Ametller Origen which plans the area of maximum activity and infrastructure (logistics and industrial warehouses, hydrogen plant, biogas plant, offices, industrial greenhouses, etc.) right over the vital hunting and resting area of the eagle (technically, defined by kernels 80 and below K50, K20, etc.)

Last August 2025, the company began earthworks within this area, actions that have intensified in the last days of September, without having previously implemented and verified any type of compensatory measure

These actions, for which there are established precautionary measures that have not been respected since the end of July, involve the destruction of the eagles' habitat without having previously provided a new habitat and verified their relocation to the new space, putting them in serious danger of survival.

For all the above, we demand:

1.The immediate halt of the Agroparc works until the compensatory measures are implemented and the eagle has an effective new roosting area and that all responsibilities are clarified and responsibilities of all those involved should be clearly outlined.

2. That the Generalitat, as the administration responsible for environmental matters in Catalonia, assumes its responsibilities and that:

• it guarantees the development of an optimal land planning, in which the conservation of biodiversity is genuinely prioritised, especially in relation to protected fauna.
• it ensures the search for alternative locations, whenever possible, avoiding the excessive use of the designation of "Projects of General Interest" to allow the urbanisation of these vital spaces.
• it assumes its obligation to ensure the implementation of proportional and effective compensatory measures in all those urban projects where protected fauna is affected.

3. That the Director General of the Environment, Marc Vilahur actively positions himself in favour of the protection of threatened species, one of the functions of his position to which he committed himself especially at the time of his investiture, while demanding the implementation of compensatory measures before making any intervention on the vital habitats of threatened species.

The destruction of the habitat of the Bonelli's Eagle (Aquila fasciata) in Gelida is not an isolated incident, but the culmination of a historical pressure on biodiversity. We must not forget that if the eagle disappears, which is one of the great predators in our environment, the entire ecosystem suffers. As it is at the top of the food chain, its absence disrupts the balance of all the other species that coexist there.

Number of adherents: 822

Entities adhered as of 25 October 2025:

1. ADEFFA. Association for the Defence and Study of Native Fauna and Flora
2. ADENC. Association for the Defence and Study of Nature
3. AGITA'T GRÀCIA
4. AMIPS. Friends Manol and Palol Sabaldòria
5. APMA - Garraf. Group for the Protection of the Environment of Garraf
6. ARBA LITORAL. Association for the Recovery of Native Forests of the Catalan Coastal System
7. Arran de terra SCCL
8. Agroecological Association Can Feliu de Rubí (Ecobodum)
9. Ecoconscient Association
10. Assembly of Neighbourhoods for Tourist Degrowth
11. Agro-environmental Association Temps de Saó
12. ALYTES Association
13. Residents' Association of Sant Salvador
14. Ecologist Association La Horda
15. Association for the Sustainability of the Òdena Basin
16. Permasenderi Association
17. Nature Classroom El Meandre
18. Cal Cigarro SL
19. CEAC. Environmental Emergency Coordinator of Canet
20. Excursionist Centre of Terrassa
21. Environmental Centre l'Arrel
22. CEPA. Centre for Ecology and Alternative Projects of Catalonia
23. Ecologist Collective Bosc Verd
24. Collective Eixarcolant
25. Coordinator for the Safeguarding of Montseny
26. Coordinator Preserve the Maresme
27. CUP Gelida
28. DEPANA. League for the Defence of Natural Heritage
29. Ecologists in Action
30. EL BROT SCCL
31. Font-Rubí Margin Space
32. GDMNS. Group for the Defence of the Natural Environment of Segarra
33. GEVEN. Ecologist Group of Vendrell and Baix Penedès
34. Freixe Nature Group
35. IAEDEN-Save Empordà
36. ICRA. Institute for the Conservation of Birds of Prey
37. IPCENA. Institution of Ponent for the Conservation and Study of the Natural Environment
38. IREHOM
39. La Garrofera
40. The Needles - Ecologists of Baix Llobregat
41. Naturalists of Gelida
42. Stop CatSud
43. Platform We Don't Do the CIM
44. Platform Living Villages
45. SAT Cal Pauet
46. SOM Penedès
47. Vilafranca in Common
48. Vòrtex Cultural Projects SCCL
49. Pensioners' Tide Font de la Guatlla-Magòria
50. Association We Are the Key - Ecology and Urban Transition
51. La Bisbal Decides
52. CNT Cornellà
53. Platform Save the Masos
54. Responsible Consumption Options SCCL
55. Cocogat Association
56. CSO Ca La Bandida
57. RSC yachts, service & automotive, S.L
58. Platform Let's Do Penedès
59. Association THE BLUE HOUSE
60. Corbera Nature Group
61. Rural Ateneu Cal Cisteller
62. Aikido Kenshukai Barcelona Association
63. La Clara Communication SCCL