In the province of Alicante, wild boar cause almost one accident every day. The spread of this species, which is being tracked in Spain and has one of its primary growth centres in Alicante, is becoming clear on the highways.
There were 345 road accidents in the province involving wild boar in 2024, which is about one every day. This is more than twice as many as five years ago, which shows how dangerous this species is for road safety.
Wild boars were responsible for 65% of the animal-related incidents in Alicante in 2024
Because of this, the Directorate General of Traffic (DGT) has started putting up signs around Alicante that alert people about their presence.
There is now a version of the typical deer sign that shows a wild boar instead of a deer. The concept is still the same: there is a risk of seeing wild animals.
The DGT (Spanish Directorate General of Traffic) said that a set of new traffic signs, which are part of the General Traffic Regulations, went into effect on July 1st. Some portions of the province already have the striking boar sign that is part of these rules.
One of these is the AP-7 motorway, which is the second ring road around the city of Alicante. The national government got rid of tolls on this road a year and a half ago. You can see a lot of these signs along the road between Mutxamel and San Vicente del Raspeig.
The DGT says that the new pictogram P-24a warns of danger since it is near a place where free animals may cross the road often. Wild boars are especially widespread in that area.
The deer sign, P-24, is still up and being used. It shows that free animals can cross the road and warns drivers of the hazard because the road is close to a spot where free animals can cross it.
There is also a sign, P-23, that portrays a cow. This sign shows that domestic animals or livestock can pass through, and it also warns that there is danger because the road is close to a place where these animals can cross it often.
The rise in wild boars has become even more concerning in the previous month, when African swine disease was found in wild boars in Barcelona.
You can already see signs with a wild boar on them in areas like the second ring road in Alicante between Mutxamel and San Vicente.
Also, the number of accidents involving animals has risen in Spain in the last nine years. This year, the DGT even put out a handbook to help people avoid these kinds of accidents with animals.
The information
The DGT (Spanish Directorate General of Traffic) website says that in 2019, there were 334 accidents involving animals in the province of Alicante. Of those, 166 featured wild boar, which is 49.7% of the total. There were 1,135 accidents in the Valencian Community, and 667 of them, or 58.8%, featured wild boar.
So, in 2024, five years later, there were 526 animal incidents in Alicante, 345 of which included wild boars, or 65.6%. There were 2,170 accidents in the Valencian Community, and 1,571 of them, or 72.4%, featured wild boars.
Author: Derek Appleton
Two children die in a house fire
Benidorm rubbish contract is up for tender
No Comment! Be the first one.