Several hundred mares and horses live free in the mountains of A Estrada, Cerdedo-Cotobade, Campo Lameiro and Cuntis, on some 3,000 hectares of land known as Monte Montouto, in northern Galicia. An area threatened by wind energy that came to the fore yesterday at the Goya Awards from the director of the film As bestas, a film where these wild horses are also protagonists.
The winner of the Goya for Best Director, Rodrigo Sorogoyen, ended his speech after receiving the award with a claim that did not go unnoticed by anyone: "Wind energy, yes, but not like that." And it is that on this Galician redoubt where the purebred horses known as 'bestas' live, there are four wind farms with eight mills over 100 meters high.
"The wild horses that appear in the film have lived for centuries in freedom. They are from the mountains of Sabucedo, in Galicia, and the people of Sabucedo have taught us to love fauna and flora, to love animals in a way that I had never seen it. Well, four gigantic wind farms are being planned in that area, the truth is, they are an irreparable damage to the fauna and flora. All my support to the town of Sabucedo for their defense of horses and their mountains" , said the recently awarded filmmaker from Madrid.
The Galician Government gave the green light to the construction of the Pico Touriñán wind farm projected by Enel Green Power, Endesa's wind power subsidiary, through an environmental impact statement that, according to associations in the area, ignores the threats that hang over equines and their daily livelihood. "The Galician government has not forced the company to take any specific measure to avoid endangering the beasts," explained members of the A Rapa das Bestas association that is in charge of their custody.
A claim that was widely applauded through social networks, where Sorogoyen's speech quickly went viral. And it is that although a good part of the filming was done in Bierzo, the As bestas team was working last August in the parish of Sabucedo (A Estrada), where some of the most famous wild horses in Galicia are found. There, among other scenes, at the O Cubillón farm, the film crew learned what a gig is and how the beasts are housed, some of the characteristics of the Rapa das Bestas, one of the most popular festivals in the area .
The so-called beasts of Sabucedo are indomitable equines that the residents of this Galician region pounce on every summer to cut their manes, deworm them and thus comply with the thousand-year-old ritual of A Rapa das Bestas. This year, the party will take place from July 7 to 10.
The population of these brave horses, officially called Purebred Galician Horses, has not stopped declining in the Galician mountains since the late 1990s, when there were 700 specimens. They are free but they all have an owner, who is required by law to put a chip on them and pay for insurance. Most of them, around 220, belong to the A Rapa das Bestas Association and the rest belong to individuals.
A report on wind projects warns that the occupation of the peaks with mills will push the herds down the slope, which is why the lives of the beasts are expected to become more complicated.
