Marbella Council has begun steps to evict the horsey community from Trapiche del Prado, a site they have occupied since 1991.
The old, derelict site has been used by a score of carriage drivers and as many as one hundred other people as a place to keep their horses, with numerous makeshift stables being erected. They have been there since 1991 but the Council now wants them out as the site is to be used for the construction of a residential home for the elderly.
The residential home is scheduled to begin operating in 2010, with 150 residential places plus another 60 for the day centre. The project is set to cost around €10 million.
The Council has indicated that a new site may be found for the horses but nothing has so far been confirmed. In the meantime, the horses have to go. The carriage-horse owners have been given until June 20th to remove their nags, the individual owners only have until June 3rd to find alternative accommodation.
If they do not move voluntarily, the authorities will remove the animals for them and charge them for the removal costs, transportation and maintenance whilst they are in municipal care!
The pretext for getting the horses removed is ‘in anticipation of possible damage to public health’ and future close proximity to residential housing. Equine establishments require what is known as a Zoological Certificate which governs hygiene and other criteria relating to the keeping of horses. In practice, very few, if any, riding establishments have ever managed to get such a certificate or even find out where to get one, so the lack of such a certificate can always be used by the authorities as justification for closure if need be.