Abstract
Raptor study and conservation has received an important public attention in Spain since the beginning of the 1970s. The rich communities of raptors and owls and the TV programmes directed by Felix Rodríguez de la Fuente might be in part responsible of such an unusual interest in raptors and owls that in a few years changed their official status of pests that should be eliminated to that of species of high conservation concern. Since, direct persecution is no longer a major factor driving raptor declines and socioeconomic changes have promoted a shift in the ways of impacting wildlife (Martínez-Abrain et al. 2009). Actually raptors are key species in biodiversity conservation in Spain and many of Natura 2000 network sites are devoted to raptor preservation. Here we present a short review of the main players involved in monitoring and conservation, the key species and issues and the strengths and weaknesses related with raptors in Spain.