No lifeguards for cats: denounce that the Emergency Plan of Ibiza excludes them

The Association of Feline Colonies of Ibiza (ACFE) has presented formal allegations to the City Council of Ibiza and the Commission of Emergencies and Civil Protection of the Balearic Islands against the draft of the Municipal Emergency Plan (PEMU 2026-2029), for what it considers a serious omission of animal protection measures. According to the entity, the document fails to comply with current legislation on animal welfare and leaves hundreds of animals in the municipality unprotected.

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Accompanying the presentation with an AI-generated image of animals during a flood, the ACFE, represented by Olivier Hassler, argues that the lack of specific protocols puts the animal population at risk during emergency situations. The association currently coordinates and collaborates in the management of some 50 cat colonies distributed throughout the municipality, where more than 800 community cats live. In addition, it warns that the plan also ignores other domestic, working and traditional production animals, such as horses, donkeys, goats, ducks or chickens, present in rural and peri-urban areas of Ibiza.

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In its analysis of the draft, the organization denounces that the PEMU 2026-2029 mentions the word “animal” only twice and in a generic way, without technical, operational or competence development. Nor does it differentiate between domestic, community, companion or production animals, nor does it establish how to act in case of rescue, evacuation, veterinary care or temporary custody. According to the ACFE, this contradicts the regulations that require the inclusion of animal protection measures in emergency plans and makes the document incomplete and lacking in real effectiveness.

Among the main deficiencies detected, the association points out the absence of an inventory and mapping of sensitive points, such as cat colonies, shelters, equestrian centers, livestock farms or veterinary clinics, which should be listed as areas of vulnerability. It also criticizes the lack of operability of the plan, since it does not provide for specific intervention mechanisms. To this is added, according to the group, the violation of the principle of effective implementation, as the City Council itself acknowledges in a communication dated November 11 that “the animal protection protocols will be drawn up after the approval of the plan”. For the ACFE, this statement shows that the PEMU does not meet the requirements of Article 21.4 of Law 3/2006 on emergency management of the Balearic Islands.

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The challenge is supported by several legal precepts. Law 7/2023, on the protection of the rights and welfare of animals, establishes that civil protection plans must contain specific measures for the protection of animals. Royal Decree 524/2023, which regulates the basic standard for civil protection, makes it mandatory to include “people, property and animals” in territorial plans. This is in addition to Article 333 bis of the Civil Code, which recognizes animals as “living beings endowed with sentience” and requires public authorities to guarantee their welfare. The ACFE also warns that the omission of these protocols could result in financial liability of the City Council or even in criminal liability for omission of the duty of guarantor, according to articles 340 ter and quater of the Penal Code, if the lack of measures causes the death or suffering of animals during an emergency.

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In its writings, the association requests the suspension of the final approval of the PEMU until the deficiencies are corrected and it is adapted to current legislation. It demands from the Eivissa Town Hall the partial nullity of the plan and the incorporation of an Operational Annex of Integral Animal Protection, which defines specific protocols for evacuation, rescue and temporary custody for all types of animals. It also requests that cat colonies and other points of animal presence be geographically identified on the risk map, and that the ACFE be included in the operational, advisory and intervention bodies for animal emergencies.

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Before the Government of the Balearic Islands, the association has requested that the Commission for Emergencies and Civil Protection supervise and assess the content of the municipal plan, urge the City Council to review it and issue a technical report or formal recommendation to ensure regulatory compliance. In both filings – submitted in the early hours of November 12 – the ACFE has requested that all notifications be issued expressly in Spanish, under Article 3 of the Spanish Constitution and Article 15.3 of Law 39/2015.

For the organization, the elaboration of an Emergency Plan that does not contemplate animal protection protocols is equivalent to building an ark without space for all the living beings that the law requires to be saved. The document, they say, is structurally incomplete and legally vulnerable.

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