Circuses that use wild animals in captivity are prohibited from this Good Friday throughout Spain, as established in the Law for the Protection of the Rights and Welfare of Animals. The bulk of this rule came into force on September 29 of last year, but since then several issues remained pending, either due to lack of regulatory development or because this is what the law itself establishes.
The text indicates in its third transitional provision that the owners of circuses, carousels and fairground attractions have a period of six months from the entry into force of the law (which occurred on September 29) to "modify their activity and ", where appropriate, inform the competent authority of the species and number of wild animals in captivity that are in their possession."
In addition, from this Friday the licenses that enable the use of wild animals for these shows will expire and the animals that are no longer used must be rehoused in "the most appropriate places to guarantee their well-being, their destination being reserves or permanent shelter for animals." ", according to the law.
However, 12 autonomous communities had already banned circuses with animals since Catalonia was the first in 2015, ahead of the Balearic Islands, Galicia, Murcia, La Rioja, Valencian Community, Aragon, Extremadura, Asturias, Navarra, Castilla-La Mancha and the Basque Country, according to the InfoCircos coalition.
Furthermore, this coalition indicates that at least 480 Spanish municipalities spread across all the autonomous communities do not allow circuses with animals, including 121 in Catalonia, 67 in the Community of Madrid, 57 in Galicia, 52 in Andalusia and 40 in the Valencian Community .
