Call for end to Lanzarote’s camel rides

The Franz Weber Foundation has called for an end to camel excursions on Lanzarote and the Canaries.

The Swiss animal welfare organisation will petition Sara Aagesen, the Spanish Minister of Ecology, directly after claiming that a request for a meeting with the directors of Timanfaya National Park has been repeatedly ignored. 

According to the foundation, camel excursions have been the subject of significant social criticism following the release of videos in which the “completely inadequate treatment received by the animals, even young ones, could be seen and which have not led to any sanction, reprimand or change in the sector”.

Before these incidents, in 2021, the Foundation published a veterinary report that warned about the camels’ living conditions, and detailing “excessive loads of people, dangerous pressure on their joints, the harmful use of wire muzzles or the absence of water.”

The request is likely to cause huge controversy on Lanzarote, where the Cabildo and Yaiza Ayuntamiento have traditionally defended the camel sector, which is largely based in Uga.