[Animals] Lorena Martínez, the first woman to chair a hunting federation in Spain, wants to change the image of the sector

[FNX Magokiler]

Lorena Martínez Frígols, 32, wants to "turn around" and "change the image" of hunting in Spain. She introduces herself as "a young woman, a forest engineer and a village hunter, who has focused her professional life on nature." She is the new president of the Valencian federation of a sector that in Spain has risen up against the Animal Welfare, Protection and Rights Law that is being finalized by the PSOE Government and United We Can. “I am the first woman in Spain and in Europe to chair a hunting federation. I understand that it grabs attention. It is a sector in which nine out of 10 hunters are men. But there is an image of hunting that is not 100% real. We are not all men and not all of us are 50 years old”, she stated this morning in the presentation of her new position. Despite this masculinization, she has not felt discriminated against.

“We want to give hunting that change of image, led by a young and professional woman. This project tries to draw the attention of people distanced from this world and flee from stereotypes. We also want it to be seen that there are many hunters and a more neutral image of hunting is given, ”explains Martínez, who became a fan as a child, in the company of her father. "I'm from Enguera [a town in the interior of Valencia] and there everything is mountain and nature," adds the engineer, who began working as an intern at the federation seven years ago.

One of its objectives is the professionalization of the sector and reduce politicization. "In the world of hunting there are people of all ideologies," insists the president of the Valencian federation since last Thursday. The entity has almost 40,000 associates (in Spain there are about 330,000 federated) and is only behind football in number of associates in the Valencian Community, she points out. Martínez replaces the businessman and rancher Raúl Esteban as president, who this month announced his incorporation into the structure of the Valencian PP, after considering his signing by Vox.

 

 

The far-right formation has been especially significant in support of the demands of the hunters, with their leader, Santiago Abascal, at the head, as evidenced in the massive demonstration in Madrid last March against the Government and in protest at the rural situation. Hunting federations spent $1.4 million and chartered 1,185 buses for their assistance. “It has been seen that certain parties use the sector as a throwing weapon from one side and the other. The extreme right as the standard-bearer of the hunting sector and a part of the left that in some way the hunter feels that he has abandoned him”, she comments. She rejects the identification with the extreme right and that this feeling could be given by the images of the demonstration.

It is also very critical of Sergio García Torres, general director of Animal Rights, of the Ministry of Social Rights led by Ione Belarra, of Podemos, and promoter of the bill. “Not only does the federation say so, even the veterinary college itself considers it contradictory and lacking in rigor,” she maintains about an “ideological” norm. Yes, he has recognized a greater sensitivity in the Minister of Agriculture, Luis Planas, and has avoided commenting on whether he subscribes to the request for the resignation of the Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, headed by the president of the Spanish hunting federation, Miguel Gallardo , for the prohibition of hunting quail, wolf or turtle dove.

She considers, on the contrary, that for the drafting of the Animal Welfare Bill of the Generalitat Valenciana the opinion of the affected parties has been obtained and certain points of view can be understood. "It is more technical and more consensual," she points out while questioning the competence of the state rule over the regional one. However, she regrets that the president of the Generalitat, the socialist Ximo Puig, has not received the hunting federation to listen to his demands.

 

https://elpais.com/espana/comunidad-valenciana/2022-05-25/lorena-martinez-la-primera-mujer-en-presidir-una-federacion-de-caza-en-espana-quiere-cambiar-la-imagen-del-sector.html