According to numerous Spanish media outlets, an incident occurred on February 11 near Girona in which a cyclist was shot by a hunter and admitted to hospital with an abdominal injury. The hunter had mistaken the mountain biker for a wild boar. The seriously injured cyclist underwent several emergency operations at Girona hospital but is recovering.

The hunter has since been arrested and is accused of negligence. It is alleged that he shot even though he could not clearly see in the undergrowth that it was a wild boar. In addition, there had already been contact between the hunter and the cyclist before the incident, with the hunter having informed the cyclist that he was hunting.

The local hunting association of Girona regretted the incident in a statement, but attributed it to the fact that the cyclist had entered a properly marked hunting area. This was allegedly a private hunting area.

The Catalan region of Girona is a cycling-mad region and a popular winter training area for road cyclists and mountain bikers. Ride recently launched a spot guide for the region: ride-mtb.com/spotguide/girona