Palma protest targets horse carriages, 28 drivers

Five animal welfare groups will gather in Palma, Mallorca, on Saturday to demand a binding end date for the city’s tourist horse carriages. The protest starts at 11.00 at Plaça de la Seu. Anima Naturalis, Peta, Satya Animal, the Franz Weber Foundation and Progreso en Verde want Palma City Council to set a deadline and a rescue plan for every horse taken out of service.

The groups say the city’s March agreement with carriage drivers does not go far enough. It envisages swapping horse-drawn carriages for electric vehicles, but they say it sets no compulsory deadline and carries no penalties if the change does not happen.

Heat rules and old promises

The dispute sharpened this summer when the High Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands overturned a change to the municipal rules that had restricted horse carriages in extreme heat. Animal welfare groups say the decision means horses can still pull carriages during yellow heat warnings, which apply in southern Mallorca from 36 degrees.

Anima Naturalis director Aïda Gascón said campaigners have heard the same promise since 2022. The groups say an earlier deal had set 2024 as the target to remove horses from service, with 250,000 euros proposed by the central government for electric carriages and an earlier 70,000 euros allocation. Neither payment was made, they say.

Drivers face the cost of electric vehicles

Under the March 2026 agreement, the 28 carriage drivers have voluntarily agreed to pay for their own electric vehicles, valued at about 40,000 euros each. The groups say no approved ordinance yet backs that commitment.

They also point to a recent video in which a carriage driver sprayed a tourist with water after she asked him to give water to his horse. Palma City Council opened a fact-finding case into the driver.

Campaigners say other Mallorca towns have already set binding rules. Capdepera banned animal-drawn transport in 2016, while Alcúdia approved a switch to authorised electric vehicles in 2023 and Muro adopted its own rules in 2024. In Palma, groups have held protests against horse carriages every Saturday in September.

Topics: Tourism · Politics · Palma · Capdepera · Alcúdia · Muro

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com