The prohibition of organizing group activities in forest areas, decreed by the Generalitat de Catalunya, has directly impacted the rise of popular athletics in the Barcelona area. The veto applies to the 20-kilometer perimeter around the animal disease focus, located in Bellaterra and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) campus, in Cerdanyola del Vallès.
So far, four events have been definitively canceled, including the Neorural (scheduled for December 14 in Santa Maria de Martorelles), the Llanera Trail (which was to be held on January 25, 2026), and the Vallès Drac Race. The Llanera Trail organizers, facing uncertainty, preferred to postpone the 2026 edition directly to January 24, 2027.
“"We cannot guarantee the celebration, nor do we see it viable to propose alternative dates."
Six races have been postponed, such as the UAB race, which will donate the 18,000 euros raised to La Marató de TV3 for research, and the Centre Excursionista de Catalunya (CEC) race in Collserola, which had to return a subsidy to the Barcelona City Council. Other events, such as the Cursa del Bolet in Ullastrell, have chosen to modify the route towards semi-urban paths to bypass the prohibition.
Authorities have warned that the containment orders will last for an 'indeterminate time,' possibly months, until two months pass without detecting new positive cases. The last 18 diagnoses were known on January 5, raising the number of wild boars killed by the virus in the zero zone of the outbreak to 47.
