Animalist political party PACMA is calling on the town halls of Ibiza and Santa Eulària des Riu to make public the animal-protection measures contained in their emergency plans as the Pitiusas face periods of heavy rain and thunderstorms.

The party is asking the municipalities to clarify how animals would be protected and evacuated during an emergency, including who would be responsible for evacuations, what transport would be available, where rescued animals could be accommodated and what veterinary assistance could be provided.

PACMA's request comes amid the unstable weather affecting Ibiza and Formentera and follows renewed warnings from the Balearic emergency authorities about heavy rain and thunderstorms.

What PACMA is asking for

PACMA's Ibiza coordinator, Olivier Hassler, is asking the town halls to publish the measures they have planned for animals in emergency situations.

The party specifically wants information about:

• Who would be responsible for evacuating animals

• What transport resources would be available

• Where rescued animals would be temporarily housed

• What veterinary assistance would be activated

• How community-cat colonies would be managed

• How animal-protection organisations would be incorporated into the emergency response

PACMA argues that these arrangements should be established before an emergency occurs rather than improvised once flooding or another dangerous situation is already underway.

What Spanish law says

The legal basis cited by PACMA is established.

Article 21 of Spain's Law 7/2023 on the protection of animal rights and welfare states that civil-protection plans must contain measures for the protection of animals in accordance with the law.

The Basic Civil Protection Regulation approved by Royal Decree 524/2023 also states that civil-protection plans must include measures covering the protection of people, property, animals, the environment and historical, artistic and cultural heritage.

More recently, the Basic Planning Guideline for protection against adverse weather phenomena, approved in April 2026, expressly states that civil-protection plans must contain measures for animal protection in accordance with the applicable legislation.

The legal requirement therefore exists. However, the legislation does not by itself establish that every municipality must publish a particular type of standalone animal-evacuation protocol in the format PACMA is requesting.

PACMA's criticism of Ibiza's emergency planning

PACMA says its latest request follows concerns it raised in November 2025.

According to the party, it submitted allegations concerning Ibiza's Municipal Emergency Plan and also made a request to the Balearic Commission for Emergencies and Civil Protection.

At that time, PACMA argued that the draft plan did not contain sufficient detail concerning animal rescue, veterinary care, temporary custody and the allocation of responsibilities and resources. The party requested a specific operational annex covering animal protection.

These are PACMA's criticisms of the planning documents. They should not be interpreted as an official finding that the Ibiza emergency plan currently fails to comply with Spanish law.

Santa Eulària's emergency plan

PACMA is also directing its request to Santa Eulària des Riu.

The municipality's Municipal Emergency Plan was homologated by the Balearic Government on April 20, 2026, according to PACMA.

The party is asking the town hall to explain what procedures the plan contains for protecting animals during an emergency and how evacuations, transport, accommodation and veterinary assistance would be organised.

The existence of an approved emergency plan does not, by itself, establish the precise operational arrangements for animals, which is why PACMA is asking the municipality to make those measures public.

The request comes during a period of severe weather

The timing of PACMA's request coincides with a period of unstable weather in Ibiza and Formentera.

The Balearic Government activated an orange Meteobal alert for rain and thunderstorms in the Pitiusas on October 1 as forecasts pointed to potentially significant rainfall and electrical activity.

By October 2, Emergencies was continuing to monitor the situation and warned residents not to become complacent, noting that the weather situation remained unstable and that the area of disturbed weather could still produce periods of intense precipitation.

The subsequent storm produced several incidents in Ibiza, including fallen trees, flooding and electricity outages, although emergency authorities reported no serious incidents in the initial response.

Community cats included in the request

PACMA has specifically called for emergency planning to take account of community-cat colonies.

The organisation argues that animals living in colonies can require specific arrangements during flooding, evacuations or other emergencies and wants coordination mechanisms established between municipal authorities and animal-protection organisations.

This forms part of the wider request for clearly identified responsibilities and resources rather than relying on volunteers to organise emergency animal assistance once an incident has already begun.

A call for planning before the next emergency

PACMA's latest intervention is therefore focused on preparedness rather than reporting a specific animal rescue incident during the current storm.

The party is asking Ibiza and Santa Eulària to explain publicly what animal-protection measures are already included in their emergency plans and to strengthen or publish operational procedures where it considers them insufficient.

Spanish legislation does require civil-protection planning to include animal-protection measures. The question raised by PACMA is therefore how those legal requirements are translated into practical arrangements on the ground, including evacuation, transport, temporary accommodation, veterinary care and coordination with animal-protection groups.