Horse and donkey parades take place with new animal welfare guidelines

The Tres Tombs parade season has kicked off in Catalonia amid new animal welfare guidelines designed to protect the horses and donkeys that traditionally take part in the festivities.  

Around January 17, the feast day of Saint Anthony the Abbot, towns across Catalonia celebrate their agricultural heritage with animal parades. 

The new text has been agreed by the Department of Climate Action, together with the Catalan Tres Tombs Federation, animal rights organization FAADA, and the Association of Specialist Equine Veterinarians.   

The guide states that at each festival there should be one veterinarian for every 50 animals, that the routes must be less than 6km and that slippery surfaces must be avoided. 

Mistreatment claim "absurd" 

At the Tres Tombs in the Barcelona neighborhood of Sant Andreu on Sunday, Andreu Bernadàs, president of the Catalan Tres Tombs Federation, said the guide would not mean significant changes, as they are already "doing things well." 

"Horses that take part in around 20 Tres Tombs parades during the first three months of the year will do no more than 60 hours work, so it is absurd to say that we mistreat the horses," he told the Catalan News Agency (ACN). 

Following the guide is voluntary, and the most significant change it introduces, according to Bernadàs, is the recommendation that festival organizers have one vet for every 50 animals, although there have "always been" vets present, he says. 

"What the Catalan government has now determined is a certain number of professionals per horse," he adds. 

Tres Tombs parades also took place in Polinyà, Martorell, Argentona, and Cerdanyola, and in the Central Catalan town of Taradell, where it is commonly known as La festa dels Tonis. 

Around 40 animals took part in the Tonis parade on Sunday, a similar number to last year, but well down on pre-pandemic figures of around 100. 

To compensate for the lack of animals, in addition to the carts used in the parade, other carts were exhibited around the town. 

"We want it to be an open-air museum," says organizing committee president Josep Presseguer. 

"We want to explain how people used to work in the past and we want the festival to survive in the future."