The treatment of hunting dogs in many countries is barbaric. You might also want to reconsider visiting the United Kingdom (where the birding is also excellent) until a full ban on the use of hunting dogs is finalized. I suppose the British at least have the decency to shoot the dogs when they are too old to hunt. However the treatment of greyhounds is as bad as it is in Spain.

One a positive note, Spain and Portugal in particular, are very aware that they offer an attractive environment for specialist tourism such as birding. The conservation organizations in these countries can gain a lot of political power if there is a clear link between the general economy and environmental protection.

In the Algarve in the south of Portugal businesses are currently being affected by tourists from the UK switching to vacations in Turkey. They are very interested in promoting the area to birders (Cape St. Vincent near Sagres on the SW tip of Portugal is awesome - great eagle migration and lots of songbirds). The secondary consequence to this is that wind-farms which previously were getting planning permission automatically are now being reconsidered as a result of their potential impact on migrating vultures.

Regards from Lisbon where the sun has been shining for almost two months now - it's quite unsettling.

Stuart
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Stuart MacKay, Lisbon, Portugal