The epic and the rabbits
On Sunday morning, TV3 offered us the Epic Trail SkyThe Boí Valley, the 24-kilometer race that runs through spectacular landscapes, along high mountain trails, with steep climbs and descents that pose a demanding challenge for participants. For viewers, however, the broadcast is relaxing, almost hypnotic. You are captivated by the competition and the natural surroundings. The Boí Valley at its best, with its intense greenery that, in the context of stifling heat like the one we're experiencing these days, was a balm, at least visually. The TV3 team, along with Maria Fernández, Josep Maria Puig, Jordi Grau, and the technical analysis by Anna Comet and Marc Pinsach, offered interesting and entertaining coverage. But it's a broadcast in which the production is key. The bird's-eye images from drones and helicopters provide a privileged view of this area of the Pyrenees, which becomes the best tourist promotion. It's also impressive to see how the cameramen behind them follow the best-positioned participants. The epic performance of the runners is as commendable as that of the technical team following them so we can see it clearly from home. The analysts made it easier for even the most novice viewers to understand the challenges and difficulties. The broadcast allowed for very close monitoring of the participants' progress. The Epic Trail is exciting because of the physical effort it requires from the runners and the fascinating landscapes, the peaks and trails we may never walk, but which the television window brings us closer to our sofas at home.
And if early in the morning, public television showed us a corner of the province of Lleida from the air, hours later, at night, we observed another from a different perspective. 30 minutes. The report Rabbits, the farmer's nightmare It showed us another ground-level odyssey. The struggle to stem the rabbit overpopulation that's ruining grain and fruit tree crops. The images captured with thermal cameras, which allowed us to detect the plague of rabbits that roam the fields at dawn, nibbling at the crops, were shocking. However, it was disconcerting to follow the entire plight of the farmers, powerless in the face of the plague and the ethical debates surrounding methods for eliminating the pest population, and, in the final stretch, for the same report to reveal an apparent definitive solution to the problem. A farmer claimed to have an effective, legal, sustainable, and affordable remedy. The very promoter of the system offered to demonstrate it to the desperate farmers we saw at the beginning. I wish they were watching the 30 minutes and that the program can put them in touch. And, if possible, that they explain to the audience how the demonstration went so we know if, for once, television, instead of just explaining the drama, has contributed to solving the problem.