The Wild Boar's Table

With great foresight, and in the face of the emergency, the Catalan Government "establishes the Wild Boar Roundtable to reduce conflicts arising from the overabundance of the species in Catalonia." The verb "establish" is the Government's own, and I find it very appropriate, because "enough," for example, or "builds" would be too literal and lead to misunderstandings. It's not as if our politicians have suddenly become carpenters. Now, a Wild Boar Roundtable can be many things. Who sits at a Wild Boar Roundtable? Wild boars? And what is served at this Roundtable? Civet?

Establishing a table and sitting down together is the best way to demonstrate that a problem or issue concerns you. We agree that we must talk, you say. But, for some reason, I don't see this table as an office table, with cups of coffee and water pitchers, some mobile phone credit, like a "dialogue table." I don't see it made of glass and stainless steel. Because of its name—Mesa del Senglar—I picture it more like a farmhouse table, long and covered with a tablecloth made from a baling cloth. I see it with porrones (traditional Spanish wine pitchers), platters of dried herbs and sausages. I see it in a kitchen where, right above the hearth, there's a stuffed boar's head. Those sitting there, our politicians, I don't see dressed in formal attire either, as they do when they hold meetings. I imagine them, rather, in vests with cartridge pouches, wellington boots, and khaki trousers. Don't make me describe them any further. To describe them more accurately, just as I imagine them, words are so inadequate.