Visitor park for tourist donkeys planned on the Costa del Sol
The 'El Burrito de Mijas' project will feature new spacious stables and an area where the animals will be able to roam in semi-freedom in their retirement
Mijas town hall on the Costa del Sol has announced an initiative to preserve one of the icons of the town: the donkey. The council has just put out to public tender for just over 42,000 euros the drafting of the project for what will be a recreational park called 'El burrito de Mijas' (the little donkey of Mijas).
The idea, as the mayor Ana Mata explained, is to promote a recreational park where the stables are currently located, where, in addition to learning more about this symbol of Mijas, the animals will have more spacious stables and recreation areas on "a plot of land that will be completely integrated into the landscape".
According to the councillor responsible for animal welfare, Marco Cortés, the aim "is to encourage interaction with the donkeys in semi-freedom, where they can walk and be visited".
The objectives of the project are to improve global awareness of animal rights and welfare, to create an observatory of donkeys in semi-freedom from the Camino de las Canteras, to enable walks along shaded and wooded paths, the participation of the Andalusian donkey in forest management and the preservation of the species.
Donkeys will also be able to 'retire' in the park and adult animals will be able to be taken in for their recovery and subsequent relocation. There will also be a visitors centre. All this will be completed with a network of paths and recreational areas where the public will be able to interact with the donkeys.
Features
The plot where the facility will be located has a surface area of 26,000 square metres. The plan is to build three large modules for the donkeys, another for veterinary use and the last one for storage. The dimensions of the stables will be such that the donkeys will be able to access, turn around, move around and lie down inside them without difficulty. In total, there are twenty-four stalls with room for two donkeys in each stall, giving a total capacity for 48 donkeys.
Each compartment will have a water point and a light, as well as rings on the walls to allow the animals to be tied up and thus allow maintenance and cleaning work to be carried out. The stables may be located at the bottom or top of the paths, taking advantage of the natural shape of the terrain, with semi-buried rooms integrated into the landscape and plants.
