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PETS

What to do if your pet goes missing in Spain

For pet owners losing a pet or having them going missing from your home or neighbourhood is one of the worst scenarios. For those in Spain, here are all the steps you should follow if this happens.

Published: 14 March 2024 11:05 CET
What to do if your pet goes missing in Spain
What to do if your pet goes missing in Spain. Photo: ISSAM ELISPH / Pexels

Pets are often like beloved members of the family and for many it’s unthinkable for them to go missing, but unfortunately, it’s not all that uncommon.

Dogs may go running off if they get scared and cats may simply not return from exploring or they may be unfamiliar with a new area and not be able to find their way home.

Luckily there are several steps in place in Spain to help you locate your pet again or report its disappearance.

Firstly, Spain’s Animal Welfare Law which came into force last year, states that all dogs and cats must be registered and microchipped. This microchip provides information about both the animal and the owner and is designed to help in such situations as well as to prevent abandonment.

READ ALSO: What to do if you find an abandoned dog or cat in Spain

If your animal is found and taken to a local vet, they can easily scan the chip for information, find out who it belongs to and contact you.

Besides knowing that you have a microchip safety net in place, there are certain steps you should follow as soon as you’ve discovered your pet is missing.

  • Firstly, you must notify the Spanish Pet Identification Network (REIAC), where the data of all pets is registered.
  • Secondly, you should report the loss to your nearest local police station as soon as possible. They can be on the lookout for anyone who has come in to report a lost animal and look around while they’re on patrol.
  • It is also a good idea to notify your local vet so that they’re aware and can be on the lookout for any information about a lost animal that resembles yours.
  • Go back to the last spot you saw your pet and retrace the area again, it’s possible they may be hiding somewhere because they’re scared. Ask friends and family to join in the search so you have several people looking at once.
  • It’s essential, however, that someone stays behind at home in case the animal returns on its own. Cats particularly have very good homing instincts and may be able to find their way home even a few days after going missing.

READ ALSO: What you need to consider before adopting a rescue dog in Spain

  • Contact and visit animal shelters to ask if they have received a pet with the same description as yours or if they can be on the look out if they do.
  • Publish the loss social media networks. Rather than just posting to your individual page or profile, however, visit dedicated pages to post about your missing pet. Many locations in Spain will have particular social media pages, for example, Barcelona has a Cats Barcelona Facebook page where people often post information about their missing pets. Likewise, there’s also a Dogs Barcelona page. These pages are also where you’ll find people posting about finding lost pets, so it’s important to scroll through the recent posts to see if anyone has found your furry friend. There are more than likely several different pages in your area either in English or Spanish.
  • The traditional method of printing lost posters with a photo of your pet and description, as well as your contact details, also works. You can stick them to lampposts, noticeboards or in shop windows.
  • If there is a local or neighbourhood publication, as well as a radio station, it is also advisable to use these means to find your pet as soon as possible.
  • Keep in mind, that some insurance companies cover the cost of advertisements and poster printing in the event your pet goes missing.
  • Remember that when you find your animal, it’s important to inform all these places again, so that people aren’t still out looking for them.

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SPANISH TRADITIONS

Everything you need to know about Mother’s Day in Spain

Here's how and when in May Mother's Day is celebrated in Spain, and why it owes its roots to religion and a Valencian poet.

Published: 3 May 2024 13:37 CEST
Everything you need to know about Mother's Day in Spain

This year, Mother’s Day (El Día de la Madre) is celebrated in Spain on Sunday May 5th. It’s always celebrated on the first Sunday of the month of May.

On this day, young children in Spain give their mothers manualidades (crafts) they’ve made at school as a token of their love.

Husbands and older sons and daughters may buy their wives/mothers a present to say thanks for all that they do as matriarchs, which usually takes the form of a detalle (smaller present than for a birthday or Christmas), and will come accompanied by a message such as te quiero, mamá (I love you, mum).

According to experiences website Aladinia, the average Spaniards spends €65 on gifts on Mother’s Day. 

Other mums may send out text messages to wish each other ¡Feliz Día de la Madre! (Happy Mother’s Day!).

As it’s always celebrated on a Sunday, many shops will be closed but you can expect plenty of restaurants to be open for lunch and perhaps dinner. 

Depending where you’re from, the first Sunday of May may or may not be when you’re used to celebrating Mother’s Day in your home country.

Around the world over 100 countries celebrate Mother’s Day (or Mothering Sunday, more on the difference below) – 77 in May, 13 in March, and 14 at other times during the year.

Some countries, like the UK, celebrate Mothering Sunday on the fourth Sunday during Lent, meaning that the date changes each year. This is because Mothering Sunday was originally a Christian holiday in some European countries.

READ ALSO: How a female teacher campaigned for Spain to have a Father’s Day

Spain, however, like in the United States, celebrates Mother’s Day on the first Sunday in May each year, meaning that it doesn’t have a fixed date either. But it wasn’t always like that in Spain.

The history of Mother’s Day in Spain

The first Mother’s Day in Spain was celebrated in Madrid all the way back on October 4th, 1926. Much of the impetus for establishing a day to celebrate mothers came, rather fittingly, from a poet.

Julio Menéndez García, a Valencian poet and public servant, pushed for a special day to celebrate mothers. Spanish newspaper La Libertad published a short section on Garcìa’s efforts in October 1925:

“A Levantine poet, Julio Menéndez García, has had the happy initiative that in Spain and in the Spanish-speaking nations a day should be consecrated to extol the love of mothers. The establishment of Mother’s Day is something tender and sympathetic, which deserves to be welcomed by governments, the press and public opinion, as it involves the highest tribute to women in their most august representation.”

After the Civil War, the church moved the date to December 8th to coincide with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a key holiday among Catholics. 

Civil War-era poster urging Madrid mothers to leave the Spanish capital with their children before the arrival of Franco’s troops. (Photo by AFP)

But it wasn’t until 1965 that Mother’s Day was celebrated in May in Spain. The reason for this change of date was to separate the celebrations (both were considered important enough to have their own day) but also the influence of other countries, namely the United States.

The campaign for a Mother’s Day was originally started by Anna Jarvis, an American wanting to honour her mother, in 1908. By 1914, US President Woodrow Wilson officially signed it into law, establishing the May date. 

However, for many years in Spain department store El Corte Inglés maintained the date of 8th December, meaning that Spain Mother’s Day was celebrated twice a year for a while, commercially speaking at least.

In 1936 a local council in Breña Baja, on the Canary island of La Palma, became the first in Spain to move Mother’s Day to May.

However, in 1965 the church authorities officially decided to move Mother’s Day to May, a month consecrated to the Virgin Mary. May is also the month of female gods in the classical world, and in Catholicism is dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

Interestingly, Jarvis herself later campaigned against the day, arguing it had become overly commercialised, something Spaniards often bemoan about other imported American customs like Halloween and Valentine’s Day. 

READ ALSO: How a female teacher campaigned for Spain to have a Father’s Day

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