ANIMAL rights groups have accused local public officials of helping donkey taxi rides go on despite orange heat alerts.
PACMA spotted several donkeys being put to work pulling tourist carriages during temperature peaks 38C on the afternoon of Monday, August 3.
A video posted to social media shows a donkey taxi at work under these conditions, with an activist seen approaching a public vehicle, which is tailing two donkey drawn carriages.
READ MORE: WATCH: Outrage as horses spotted drawing carriages in Cordoba during 38C heatwave
The woman behind the camera goes to the window and announces: “We are in the midst of an orange heat alert, there is a regulation that states that these donkey or horse carriages cannot work.”
The employee, working for the mysterious ‘Guarda Rural’, tells the animal activist in response to ‘go back to your village’.
The unseen officer adds: “If you don’t like Mijas, don’t come.”
When pressed, the officer describes her as ‘a retired woman here in the village giving everyone grief.’
The Guarda Rural is under contract by the Junta, according to Mijas town hall, who describes it as one arm of a rural-monitoring team alongside various others including the Policía Local Rural, Guardia Civil, Proteccion Civil.
Which makes the attitude of the Guarda Rural officer curious, as donkeys and horses working during high temperatures is forbidden under local regulations.
Mijas town hall ordinance rule states that the animals ‘must not be made to work between 2pm and 6pm when AEMET issues a yellow, orange, or red-weather alert’.
But it wasn’t just the Guarda Rural encouraging or implicitly permitting the donkey taxis to break local laws, according to PACMA.
The group added that on the same day, August 2, despite several donkeys continuing to work, both Mijas town hall and Policia Local also did nothing to enforce the rule.
The group claimed that several of its members, who were documenting the animals and confronting officials about the rule break were subject to pressure, or even asked to leave town.
PACMA slammed the situation, decrying that protection rules ‘cannot exist only on paper’, adding that campaigners will continue to document and monitor when these rules have been breached.
When contacted for comment, Mijas town hall said they were unable to comment because the competent member of staff was not available.
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