Around 40 protest in Palma as horse carriages face ban calls
Around 40 people marched through Palma on Saturday 26 September, demanding that horse-drawn carriages be replaced with electric vehicles. The campaign groups say the current system amounts to animal mistreatment. They gathered at Plaça de la Seu before walking to Carrer del Conqueridor, where a driver and a tourist argued weeks earlier after she asked for the horse to be given water.
The march, called by Anima Naturalis, Peta, Satya Animal, FFW and Progreso en Verde, brought chants including: “Palma does not want horse carriages.” The groups say they will return every Saturday to press carriage operators and Palma City Council for change.
No deadline for electric replacement
Kike Gimeno of Satya Animal said the groups have not taken part directly in talks on switching to electric vehicles, despite asking to do so. They know the council has made “some moves”, he said, but there is still no timetable for the change.
According to Gimeno, the council does not intend to fund the switch, leaving carriage owners to meet the cost. He said the move also needs a change to the municipal rules and charging facilities for electric vehicles.
The groups point to a second agreement signed by Palma City Council and the carriage drivers’ guild in March 2026. It sets out a move away from animal-drawn carriages, they say, but contains no binding deadline or penalties for failing to comply.
Calls for a rescue plan for horses
Campaigners want a council rule with a fixed date for the change and a formal rescue plan for every horse taken out of service. Gimeno said the groups have examined places at sanctuaries and private farms that could take in the animals.
They also want any council help for the transition to depend on owners handing over their horses so they can retire. Anima Naturalis director Aïda Gascón said the groups had heard the same promise since 2022.
The campaigners also criticised a ruling by the High Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands, which struck down a municipal restriction on carriages during extreme heat. The groups say horses can therefore continue pulling carriages under yellow warnings, which apply in southern Mallorca from 36 degrees.
They recalled that two carriage horses collapsed in central Palma in less than three days in September, six months before the March 2026 agreement was signed.
Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com