On 22nd August 2024, about 80 animal protection campaigners protested in front of the tourist office in Mijas Pueblo, Andalucia, Spain, calling for the tourist rides with donkeys around the town to be replaced by “tuk-tuks” (three-wheeled vehicles very common in Asia).
For several years, people have been protesting the “Mijas donkey taxis”, especially in summer, not only because of the increased presence of tourists on the Costa del Sol but also because the animals are at higher risk of heat stroke. At the beginning of August, the town council issued a municipal bylaw reducing the service of donkey taxis and horse-drawn carriages in situations of a weather alert for heat, but the protestors say this is not enough.
Anne Blitz, a French national, started a Facebook group calling for the release of the working donkeys and horses in Mijas. She said to El Sur, “I have met with politicians and I have gone to demonstrations organised by animal activists, but I realised that very few people went and so I decided to create my group on social media to try to mobilise more people…they are the ones who have asked me to organise a protest”.
Blitz told Mijas Communication, “We know that there are families who live off them, we want something that is fair for everyone and that this mediaeval activity stops. We are not against the City Council because [the mayor] Ana Mata has done a great job, she has put an Animal Welfare department and they are doing many things to help the donkeys, but things cannot be done in one day.”
Among the changes that the organisers are calling for is the release by the sale of the donkeys, which could be financed by the council, private funds or crowdfunding. The group proposed the creation of one or more “sanctuaries” where they can live and be cared for once acquired.
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