Executive Summary
The main animal welfare legislation in Spain, Law 32/2007, was enacted in order to comply with European Union legislative requirements on farm animal protection, and to give a base level of animal protection across the Autonomous Communities and Cities. The Act covers vertebrate animals that are used in production, animals used in scientific research and education, but specifically excludes companion animals, wild animals (including in captivity), bullfighting, hunting and fishing. The Act covers the care of animals throughout their entire life on the farm, during transportation and at the time of slaughter, through incorporation of the relevant European Union Directives and Regulations on this subject, which contain a high level of detail in relation to certain activities and species. Law 31/2003 on the conservation of wildlife in zoos makes provision for the licensing of zoos and facilities keeping wild animals in captivity, inspection processes, conservation measures (including animal welfare issues), record-keeping and enforcement mechanisms. The law was made to incorporate the requirements of European Union Directive 1999/22/EC.
Since the API was first published in 2014, Spain has signed the European Convention on the Protection of Pets, and enacted laws relating to: the protection of animals used in experimentation and other scientific purposes, including teaching (Royal Decree No. 1386/2018 (Modifies Royal Decree No. 53/2013); animal health and protection regulations during transport (Royal Decree No. 542/2016), and the protection of animals at the time of slaughter (Royal Decree No. 37/2014).
Despite incorporating the minimum European Union legislative requirements, there is room for improvement in many areas related to animal welfare. Notably, bullfighting benefits from a cultural exemption to the anti-cruelty legislation. Spain still allows the slaughter of non-stunned animals, as well as the culling of stray animals, although there are some localised bans. The scope of application of Law 32/2007 is very much restricted to animals who are considered to bear an economic value, which creates an obstacle to improving animal welfare overall for all other categories of animals.
No one department or public body in Spain has been given overall responsibility for enforcing and managing animal welfare. However, individual legislation designates different government bodies as responsible for the implementation of each law, with the General State Administration responsible for implementation of Law 32/2007. There is also a Spanish Committee for the Protection of Animals Used for Scientific Purposes, as well as local animal welfare ethics committees monitoring welfare standards during experiments.
The Government of Spain is urged to formally recognise animals as sentient in legislation, given the scientific evidence which has proven that all vertebrates, cephalopods and decapod crustaceans are sentient. Furthermore, the Government of Spain is strongly encouraged to expand the scope of application of Law 32/2007 to all animals, rather than only covering animals who are considered to have an economic value, as it is the case at present. The Government of Spain is urged to ban the confinement of farm animals – for instance, in sow stalls and farrowing crates for pigs, and in cages for egg-laying hens – and the Government is urged to mandate the humane slaughter of all farm animals, with stunning prior to slaughter. The Government of Spain is furthermore urged to ban fur farming, which is inherently cruel, causing pain and distress to animals. The Government of Spain is furthermore urged to remove the cultural exemption that allows bull fighting to continue. Further legal and policy recommendations are associated with each Animal Protection Index (API) indicator and contained in the relevant sections of this report.