A MAN died in a car crash on Costa del Sol after swerving into oncoming traffic to avoid a wild boar.
The driver, 54, steered his Citroen C15 van into a lorry travelling down the opposing lane after the animal burst past the guard-rail and darted across the motorway near Casarabonela, west of Malaga, in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Emergency services arrived shortly afterwards, but the driver was pronounced dead at the scene.
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The Citroen was completely destroyed, and debris from the collision partially blocked the road for several hours.
Local authorities urged drivers to exercise caution on rural roads, particularly at night, as wild boars and other wildlife are increasingly venturing near urbanised areas in search of food.
Residents in the surrounding area reported that wild boars have been spotted close to roads in recent weeks, heightening the risk of accidents.
It came as authorities began culling pigs and wild boars last month following a new bout of African swine fever (ASF), the first in Spain since 1994.
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The outbreak was first detected in late November, when two wild boars found dead near Barcelona tested positive for the disease.
Since then, seven more wild boars have been confirmed infected, bringing the total to nine in the affected area.
In response, authorities in Catalunya have launched a large-scale population-control plan, deploying Spain’s Emergency Military Unit (UME) alongside rural agents and police to patrol, disinfect zones, and monitor wild-boar movement.
Though the outbreak is currently concentrated around Barcelona and no domestic pig farms inside the 20-kilometre surveillance zone have tested positive, authorities and farmers’ organisations warn that wild-boar overpopulation and proximity to roads – especially near rural areas like Malaga – increase the risk of further incidents, both for animal health and road safety.
African swine fever is a highly contagious viral disease that affects pigs and wild boars, but it poses no risk to humans.
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The virus spreads quickly among wild and domestic swine, and there is currently no cure or vaccine.
Experts say that controlling the population of wild boars and isolating infected animals is crucial to preventing a wider outbreak.
Authorities are also investigating possible ways the virus arrived in Spain. One theory suggests that contaminated food waste, such as discarded pork products, could have infected wild boars.
The outbreak has already led to trade restrictions and the suspension of pork exports from affected regions – a heavy blow for Spain’s pork industry, one of the largest in the EU.
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