The runways in the Aralar Natural Park and those planned for the future have given rise to the debate. The Commonwealth of Enirio-Aralar owns the pastures and is part of it fifteen municipalities: Abaltzisketa, Amezketa, Baliarrain, Ikaztegieta and Orendain; and Goierriko Altzaga, Arama, Ataun, Beasain, Gaintza, Itsasondo, Lazkao, Legorreta, Ordizia and Zaldibia. The management of these lands is in the hands of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa.

The annual general meeting of the Enirio-Aralar Commonwealth was held on 30 January 2016. According to the newspaper Goierriko Hitza, after three years without meeting, representatives of the people, the Council and the farmers and pastors met. This committee dealt with a number of issues, including the lack of clues to reach the herdsmen's briefs. Subsequently, the meeting also agreed to set up a consultative working group with participants in the primary sector and representatives of municipalities bordering the mountains.

In view of the demand and needs of pastors and farmers, the machines began building a 1.5 kilometer track between Intzentsao and Goroskintxu in autumn 2016 (see map). The construction of this track was approved since 2003 and the decision of the community was taken unanimously. The amount earmarked for these works is EUR 138,000.

However, the unity that until then existed among the representatives of the commonwealth was broken at the assembly on 19 October 2016. This meeting dealt with the proposal put forward by the working group. It approved the extension of the runway to Goroskintxu at 4.4 kilometers and the possibility of building two other paths. The proposal was adopted with the votes in favour of nine municipalities, five against and the abstention of a people who did not attend the meeting.

The next chapter on the subject of the tracks took place at the Enirio-Aralar Commonwealth Assembly on 20 December 2016. At that meeting, the agreement proposed by the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa for the period 2015-2019 was approved with ten votes in favour and one abstention, and the non-participation of representatives of four municipalities was agreed. The adaptation of the pedestrian vial between Enirio and Igaratza was approved by means of a ro-ro track.

In total, according to the spokesman for the Foral Council of Gipuzkoa, Imanol Lasa, the foral institution will allocate EUR 2 million to the Enirio-Aralar management plan. Among the planned works are the extension of the runway to Saltarri mentioned above to Goroskintxu, the extension of the pedestrian path between Doniturrieta and Enirio, the construction of the “V” of the slopes between Igaratza and Ariñate and the departure of several arms. This budget also includes the construction of Ariñat ' s warehouse, the Canadian passage through Enirio ' s works, the construction of new launchers, various cleaning work and repairs to fountains and slugs.

The issue of the tracks has created a great controversy between supporters and opponents. The sabotage of the excavations carried out in the autumn and the recent burning of the chabola of the mountaineers of Zaldibia in Oidui – contrary to the project by the members of this association – has not served to calm the atmosphere. What are the arguments of both?

In 2002, no, now why not?

At the request of the farmers, the works and plans of the existing runways in the Community have been approved. The president of the EHNE trade union of Gipuzkoa, GARIKOITZ Nazabal, explained that the roads are “a necessity that is being demanded for at least twenty years”. This is also stated by Pastor Josu Oiartzabal, member of the aforementioned Report: “I have been a pastor in Aralar for twenty years, and at first I got my 2002 account. Then we also asked to make clues, but at that time the community refused. They told us we couldn’t do anything.”

Juantxo Agirre, Director General of Aranzadi, recalls the debate on Aralar in 2002. A network of lanes for cars of about 15 kilometres was planned. At that time, “red lights turned on,” explains Agirre, “this was driven by the Council, which had the economic capacity and the possibility of legally channeling it.” The political representatives then gave the people of Aranzadi the opportunity to present their views in the Basque Parliament. “We then said that we appreciated grazing and livestock, that we had to help, that we had to improve living and working conditions, but at the heart of the park we came to understand that those mountain routes for cars were impossible, because they would have a severe and irreversible effect,” he said.

The political representatives then finally decided not to do that great project. However, the current draft relates the representatives of Aranzadi to the representatives of 2002: “There was a plan in which all the tours planned at that time were seen. In front of this picture, a lot of people got scared. Sixteen years later, now, this photograph is shown in pieces, and those who wanted to make the road network of the time have learned in an administrative and legal way how to carry out the project.”

Even though the time has passed, Oiartzabal has explained that the farmers have continued with the same concerns as they were then. She has a cottage in Latosa and explains from her experience the situation she has experienced: “I made the cheese on the mountain in three years, but I fell almost impossible. I just made the chabola and cheeses one hour after the end of the runway, so I had to give a few cheeses on every round trip, because otherwise they were asked. In addition, I had to bring to my cottage all the disruptions necessary for the development of my daily life. In the end, I stopped making cheese on the mountain.”

Oiartzabal stressed that the current project is a request that is made in the future: “We have made a request that in future livestock farming, and especially grazing, continue on that mountain, because these resources are absolutely necessary. If these actions are maintained, Aralar will remain in good condition and with the short grass grass, as it is today.”

Furthermore, the EHNE and ENBA trade unions justify the need to take account of the working conditions of workers. The representative of EHNE considers that his requirements are basic: “Our sector works with the land. The earth needs us to keep us in its present state. So if you start with that recognition, at a time when people have to work in a more dignified way, you need basic means.” He claims that there is talk about the rights of workers, arguing that talking about the roads is about “the life of workers”. “Like all workers, we ask for dignity,” added Nazabal.

Joxan Auzmendi, from the Aralar Bizirik group, is clear that the objective of the management of the Aralar Natural Park is “to preserve, preserve, restore and improve the natural heritage of the place”. It also places grazing in these parameters. But with reference to the above objectives, it is based on the Aralar Natural Resources Management Plan. “It goes on to say that each and every one of the activities in Aralar must be compatible with that objective,” he said.

Process and interpretation of laws

In view of the possibility that the construction of new tracks is a reality, opinions have also been disseminated in society on the need, opportunity and legality of the project. Edurne Huesa, a member of Landarlan, believes that a project of these dimensions “must meet the needs of all the sectors benefiting from it”, given that Aralar is “a popular heritage site”. Landarlan Ingurugiro Elkartea is a group created thirteen years ago in Goierri and is part of the patron saint of the park of Aralar. The Board of Trustees is the control, consultation and collaboration body of the park and in the face of the debate the group complains that the board does not meet: “In addition to Landarlan, the UPV/EHU, the Mountain Federation and other institutions are represented in the board”.

Landarlan has come to the prosecutor's office with the environmental group Eguzki, considering that the draft clues "violate several laws". According to Joxan Auzmendi, “over and above the spirit of the law they have used some legal engineering in the search for loopholes to achieve their goal.” Aralar Bizirik says that it is expressly forbidden to move land where the new track is being built. The runway to Goroskintxu passes through lands located in the “Coto de Montaña” protection of the Aralar Natural Park Management Plan. Taking into account the legislation of this district, Auzmendi sets as an example the standard set out in Article 26 of the Natural Resources Management Plan of the Aralar area: “All works likely to alter the soil are prohibited, except those intended for the establishment of a permanent forest and those for the improvement or creation of access and infrastructure”.

For the member of Aralar Bizirik, “this project is to build a new path, so you cannot apply the exception contained in the standard”. But Auzmendi also suspects that the gap to which they are going to devote themselves to the construction of new tracks is as follows: “Over time, several vehicles have circulated off the slopes. That is forbidden, but it seems tolerated. So, to justify the project, since footprints have already been made on the ground with the wheels and erosion is being caused, they have called for the construction of new tracks to the slums of Aralar and the ‘organization and adaptation’ of the paths of the Saltarri manga”. They are based on the environmental report produced by the HAZI Foundation, under the Basque Government.

Laws, on the other hand, allow for other kinds of interpretations. For example, the HAZI report, referring to livestock activity, coincides with the decision to make the roads. The declaration document of Aralar as a Special Conservation Area states that “the investments necessary for the improvement of pasture and livestock infrastructures, in order to “maintain at least” the current livestock and “create, preserve and repair” the necessary infrastructures for the benefit of the livestock activity that “guarantees” the conservation of these spaces.

Nazabal places the clues among some of the needs raised by the EHNE and ENBA unions in collaboration with the farmers and adds that it is the job of the technicians to determine where they can be carried out: “What we have put on the table is the identification of some needs. One of them is roads. We do not say where they should be done. That’s what the one who goes after it says.”

Is there an alternative?

Koro Irazustabarrena, of the Landarlan association, believes that they have "lost" fourteen years without seeking an alternative, returning to the situation in 2002. In the same way, Garikoitz Nazabal, representative of the primary sector: “Fifteen years ago, when the debate came to these planes, we were told of alternatives. Fifteen years later, the deficiencies are still there, but it has not been worked, or at least it has not been raised.” In these fourteen years, Juantxo Agirre de Aranzadi has argued that the natural park has been saved from the “impact” that the slopes would cause. At the same time, over these years, I believed that we had to work on other solutions. "The responsibility lies with everyone, but we must also demand the effort from those who need it," said the heritage expert.

At this point, Josu Oiartzabal sees it as “difficult” for other options than the tracks to meet his needs and demands. However, Nazabal of the union says that they are not "closed" to the issue of the tracks: “We understand the debate and are prepared to speak for it, provided that the dignity of the people who are working is respected. If there are real alternatives, we will come up and talk about them.” The Landarlan Association, for example, has mentioned solutions so that the slopes are not built and the demands of pastors and shepherds are met. Among other things, the reorganization of slums, drift grass chain transport or air transport.

Nazabal questions air transport and, above all, the viability of the helicopter service for the day-to-day life of the shepherds: “Is that real? So far, materials have been provided in helicopters to fix the chabolas, and they are very expensive. In the day to day, to lower the cheeses, to climb the butane... Is the helicopter going? When something happens to a mountaineer, nine out of ten times the helicopter does not go in the fog,” explains the EHNE representative. In contrast to the example of Nazabal, Agirre Mauleon does not immediately say that the helicopter option is not real: “If this were the case, we would have to stay in Ordesa in the Pyrenees, in all parks in Switzerland or in the Amazon. And also, if we asphalt the clues, the ambulances will go faster,” he explained ironically.

The salvation of the future?

The new mountain roads will not be the salvation of your sector, says Nazabal, but believes they are important to improve the situation: “Roads are a tool, not an objective. After all, we are asking for ways in which work can be done better. Are they going to solve the future of the sector? No. A lot of complementary things can help be part of the solution? Yes.”

Agirre Mauleon has pointed out that similar situations are taking place in other parts of the world, such as Brazil. He sets out as an example the project he has created together with the new government of the United States: “Things similar to the Aralar question are happening all over the planet. In the United States they love natural parks. But the new Environment Minister is going to introduce pipelines. He also wants parks, but he puts in oil pipes to drive thousands of new jobs. As here, the most expert universities and ecosystems in the area have put on the table that these pipelines cannot be traversed through some valleys. But the government, which is also democratic, is not going to listen to them. So they have different ways of understanding life, nature and the future. We, to a lesser extent, but we have the same problem.”

In Aranzadi, it is clear that the construction of tracks “will cause great damage to the environment and more problems”. Before making the necessary decisions and measures regarding the situation, for the scientific community it is necessary to “analyse among all the actors” the future of these pastors and livestock farmers. While some are asking for time, the Enirio-Aralar management plan already envisages the possibility of carrying out new paths.