Spanish hunting season.

It is the hunting season in Spain, and hunters are out in their thousands all over the country, trying to hunt small or large game. Hunting remains a popular sport in this country, and there is very little debate about whether or not it should be allowed. Animal-rights' debates here center around bull-fighting rather than hunting. Hunting is especially popular in central Spain (Castilla la Mancha, Aragon, Extremadura....), and at this time of year on the main roads in these regions you can often see scores of cars being driven with a little trailer attached behind containing one or two hunting dogs.

During the Autumn months, migratory birds fly over Spain providing hunters with all sorts of unusual targets, and game reserves with deer, wild boar are opened up to hunters who spend hours in the dark and cold, hiding in strategic points, hoping to lure unsuspecting animals out of their hiding places and get a shot at them.

This may explain why two disorientated wild boar were found wandering along Avenida Navarra, one of Zaragoza's main roads, early this morning. Apparantly police tried in vain to catch the boar by chasing them along the avenue, but only succeeded in making them run from one side of the main street to the other, as they tried to find a way to escape. They finally managed to corner the two wild animals in the carpark of a popular shopping center, but were still unable to catch them. In the end, according to a statement by local police, and after all that effort, the two animals displayed such "ferocity" when surrounded by cars and onlookers that the police were left with "no other option" other than to shoot them.

It could only happen in Spain.