Use of camels in Spanish festive parades labelled abusive

Christmas processions are one of the most cherished parts of Spain’s festive period, with floats sweeping through towns and cities and men dressed up as the Three Kings throwing sweets to crowds of children lining the route.

But ahead of this year’s parades, the planned use of camels and reindeer has triggered a backlash, as the country’s parliament debates ground-breaking animal welfare legislation.

The processions take place on the night of January 5th, to mark the arrival of the Magi.

In the northwestern city of Ourense, local authorities have hired three dromedaries for the occasion, to be ridden by the Three Kings. Reindeer have also been contracted, to accompany the Father Christmas character in the procession. The total cost of the animals will be about €18,000, according to local newspaper La Voz de Galicia.

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The dromedaries — the largest species of camel — first featured in Ourense’s Christmas procession in January this year. The city’s mayor, Gonzalo Pérez Jácome, said they were a huge success, adding that “when they saw the dromedaries, [the children] said that the real Three Kings had come to Ourense”.

However, concerns were voiced about whether the use of desert animals for a noisy event, in one of Spain’s coldest regions, constituted mistreatment. This year, the debate has intensified because legislation outlawing the involvement of animals in such festivities is being debated in parliament and could be approved within days.

The law makes explicit reference to Christmas processions, saying it is “unnatural” to use animals for these events.

Borja López, an opposition councillor in Ourense city hall, said that Ourense should not be “the only city in the Galicia region which, in the 21st century, still allows the participation of animals in festive activities for mere entertainment”. He and others in the city hall have approved a motion declaring the planned use of animals on January 5th as mistreatment.

Elephants

However, for the moment, the mayor appears not to have changed his plans to use the animals. Other local governments have also said they will use camels in their January 5th festivities, such as the southern town of Alcaracejo, and Tudela, in the north. Some towns also use elephants.

One elephant which took part in a Christmas procession in Medina del Campo in 2020 swung round suddenly, striking the mayor of the town and knocking over a child with its tusks, although nobody was hurt. Last Christmas, one of the Three Kings taking part in the procession in the town of Elda fell off his camel when it slipped.

The animal welfare Bill includes a range of proposals, mainly related to domestic animals. It states that all dog owners should undergo some form of training before buying an animal and it would outlaw leaving dogs unsupervised for more than 24 hours at a time. In addition, the sale of cats, dogs and ferrets in shops would be banned.

Although Socialist prime minister Pedro Sánchez hoped to get the law approved by the end of the year, its content has caused friction within his coalition government, due to disagreement over whether or not hunting dogs should be affected by the new regulations. Socialist leaders in rural areas of the country have warned that including hunting dogs in the remit of the Bill could alienate hundreds of thousands of voters.