Mallorca animal shows: charity calls for an end

Mallorca, Spain: shows featuring marine mammals still take place at a well-known venue, and an animal welfare group wants them stopped. On 5 October 2026, the Franz Weber Foundation asked the Consell de Mallorca, the island council, to declare Mallorca free of animal shows. Its proposal targets displays with cetaceans, marine mammals that include dolphins.

The foundation points to what it calls a contradiction in Spanish animal welfare law. The law bans wild animals from circuses but still allows other shows with marine species, including dolphins and sea lions. The group says scientific studies show captivity harms cetaceans’ physical health. Small enclosures limit exercise and contact with others of their kind, it says, restricting normal behaviour such as socialising, caring for one another and searching for food.

The foundation says the displays do nothing for conservation or for educating audiences. It describes them as aimed at foreign tourists and largely ignored by local people. It now wants the island council to take a position on the shows.

Topics: Nature & wildlife

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com