Horse carriage in Palma, Mallorca

A midday to 5pm restriction operated without opposition. | Jaume Morey

Andrew EdePalma16/08/2022 08:20
TW
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A court in Palma has accepted an appeal by Palma horse carriage drivers against a town hall ban when the Aemet met agency declares a yellow heat alert.

A restriction was first introduced by the town hall in 2019. This applied to the period between midday and 5pm on days when there were yellow alerts. Carriage drivers' representative Venancio Vargas says that this "left us a margin". After 5pm, when it was not so hot, they could work for some four hours.

However, in May this year the councillor for sustainable mobility, Francesc Dalmau, announced that the yellow alert ban would be applied to the whole day. In appealing this decree, the carriage drivers' arguments included the fact that Aemet weather alerts are for whole areas of Mallorca, and not just one municipality. In the case of Palma, the city is in the southern area from Andratx to Ses Salines. Because of local variations in temperature, it could be that Palma's temperature isn't 36 degrees, the level which defines a yellow alert.

The court has not revoked a ban when there are amber or red alerts (from 39C and 42C).

Guillermo Amengual, president of the animal rights party Progreso en Verde, has continued his criticism of the town hall administration and its "zero involvement in putting an end to the suffering of horses".