Dromedary rides (camelus dromedarius) in the south of Lanzarote, known on the island as camels, are once again at the center of controversy after a video that has gone viral on social networks.
In the images that La Voz has been able to access, you can see how a dromedary was on the ground, while it still had two tourists sitting on top of it on their riding chairs, which hang from the hump.
Specifically, a user has shared the moment after the animal fell and how the workers tried to get it to stand up again, without success.
Thus, it shows how the two visitors who were riding the animal unbuckled their belts and ran off, while the rest watched the situation in bewilderment.
After that, already on solid ground, one of the two English-speaking tourists who was on the animal's hump looked visibly angry, gesticulating: "Fucking, fucking dromedary."
In the midst of the chaos, the dromedary that was right in front of the injured one, kept walking and began to drag the one on the ground by the snout. While a worker was trying to save the situation.
The social media user who shared the video points out that "we believe we are superior and that is why we use these animals at our whim. We have power over them and if we want to use and exploit them, we do it."
Thus, he has also added "keep getting on top of the animals. Keep promoting this shame." Last summer this sector was in the spotlight for the treatment of the Timanfaya camels.
Complaint from an international NGO
The international NGO Franz Weber Foundation demanded last June 2023 the "end point" to camel rides on the island. Specifically, it urged the Cabildo and City Councils to work "on alternative proposals." Already in 2021, the Foundation warned about the "significant shortcomings" suffered by these animals and exposed their "living conditions, the long days of transport to which they are subjected and the incidents that occurred."
In addition, it highlighted the excessive loads of people, the pressure on the joints of the dromedaries during transit, the harmful use of wire muzzles or the absence of water.
The camel sector employs 30 families
In an interview with Ekonomus, the councilor Águeda Cedrés, responsible for the camel sector in the Yaiza City Council, stressed that there are currently 14 companies carrying out excursions with 220 active camels, out of a total of 290 licensed camels.
"Each company has its shifts, the camels do not work every day," Cedrés said then. According to city council sources, with the distribution of shifts, each camel works an average of 13 days a month.
