Dogs on the bus … Cartagena, Donostia-San Sebastián, Fuengirola, Irún, Ourense, Palma de Mallorca and Sant Cugat del Vallès are the first seven cities in Spain that they accept companion dogs on city buses without the animal going in a carrier, a measure that facilitates the sustainable mobility of families and helps to avoid the abandonment of domestic animals. This is how the first national study on pets and urban transportation made by Pipper on tour, the specialized blog starring Pipper, the first tourist dog to go around Spain to promote the integration of educated pets in public spaces.
The Pipper on tour study analyzes the situation in 144 cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants that have urban bus service and concludes that seven municipalities already allow access to this transport with the dog tied and with a muzzleTwo cities regulated it years ago but do not apply it (Alcoy and Mérida); 92 cities only allow small dogs in a carrier and 43 cities still prohibit getting on the bus with pets.
The study only refers to companion dogs, since those assisting people with disabilities or special needs have their own regulations that guarantee access to all transport.
Tied up and without carrier
Cartagena, Donostia-San Sebastián, Fuengirola, Irún, Ourense, Palma de Mallorca and Sant Cugat del Vallès apply different access rules of dogs without a carrier, although with common aspects:
– Bring the Up-to-date sanitary documentation of the dog and the animal must be clean and on a short leash. Some cities require liability insurance for the user. The animal keeper is responsible for any incident or damage that occurs on the bus.
– The dog must wear a muzzle (except in Donostia-San Sebastián, which only accepts small dogs in arms).
– Some cities limit the maximum size of the dog (for example, only small dogs are accepted in Donostia-San Sebastián and only up to 25 kilos in Fuengirola), or they do not allow bitches in heat (Irún and Fuengirola) or breeds declared as potentially dangerous PPP dogs (Fuengirola and Palma).
– Where should the dog be located? There is no general rule. For example, in Ourense you can lie under the seat occupied by the caregiver, in Irún you can only be in the central area of the bus and in Palma, in the back of the vehicle.
– In some cities it is forbidden to upload animals in rush hours or in night services and the number of dogs per vehicle is limited (one only in Cartagena, two in Irún and Ourense, and five in Fuengirola).
– To go up with the dog, an additional ticket of 0.30 euros is paid in Palma (except those that go in a carrier) and of 0.57 euros, in Fuengirola. In the rest, nothing is paid.
– Ourense, the last city to join this trend last March, prepares a dog card which must be requested from the City Council in order to take the animal on the bus. To obtain it, you will have to provide insurance, a veterinary certificate on vaccinations and possession of the microchip (while this accreditation is being prepared, the bus company has already begun to accept pets).
– Some cities, like Irún, stipulate the way to resolve possible conflicts, since animals can be the object of phobias or cause of allergies. For example, its regulations establish that “at the moment in which a traveler reports feeling bothered (allergic reactions, smells or noise) by the conditions of an animal and had embarked before the caretaker of said animal, the latter will have the obligation to move to another area of the vehicle “. In Donostia it is understood that, generally, the person who gets on the bus first has priority. In the event of discrepancies, the criteria of the driver prevails.
The municipalities have explained to the blog Pipper on tour that the measure has been favorably received by the majority of users and that no major incidents have been recorded.
Small dogs in carrier
In the following cities it is allowed to get on the bus with a small dog in a carrier. They usually stipulate that they weigh a maximum of 10 kilos, although in some they reduce the weight to 8 kilos (for example, Barakaldo) and others raise it to 15 (Paterna, Torrent, Valencia …). In the Valencian capital, by the way, you have to request the pet voucher to be able to travel (a card that costs 5 euros.
In this group of cities, the dog is required to remain inside the carrier and not open at any time. In some cases, the application becomes more lax and small dogs can be allowed in bags or even in arms.
These are the cities: A Coruña, Albacete, Alcalá de Henares, Alcobendas, Alcorcón, Algeciras, Arona, Badajoz, Badalona, Barakaldo, Barcelona, Bilbao, Boadilla del Monte, Burgos, Cáceres, Casteldefels, Castellón de la Plana, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Ciudad Real, Collado Villalba, Colmenar Viejo, Córdoba, Cornellà de Llobregat, Coslada, Cuenca, Dos Hermanas, El Ejido, El Prat de Llobregat, El Puerto de Santa María, Elche, Elda, Fuenlabrada, Gandía, Getafe, Gijón, Girona, Granada, Granadilla de Abona, Granollers, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Huesca, Jerez de la Frontera, La Linea de la Concepción, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Rozas de Madrid, Leganés, Linares, Lleida, Logroño, Lorca, Madrid, Majadahonda, Málaga, Manresa , Marbella, Mataró, Melilla, Mollet del Vallès, Móstoles, Murcia, Palencia, Paterna, Pinto, Ponferrada, Pozuelo de Alarcón, Reus, Rivas-Vaciamadrid, Rubí, Salamanca, San Bartolomé de Tirajana, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, San Sebastián de los Reyes, San Vicente del Raspeig, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Santiago de Compostela, Segovia, Seville, Tarragona, Telde, Torrejón de Ardoz, Torrent, Valdemoro, Valencia, Vigo, Vila-real, Viladecans, Vilanova i la Geltrú, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Zamora and Zaragoza.
Where are animals not allowed on the bus?
Alcalá de Guadaira, Alicante, Almería, Aranjuez, Arganda del Rey, Arrecife, Ávila, Avilés, Benalmádena, Benidorm, Cádiz, Calviá, Ceuta, Chiclana de la Frontera, Estepona, Ferrol, Guadalajara, Huelva, Jaén, León, Lugo, Mijas , Molina de Segura, Motril, Orihuela, Oviedo, Pamplona, Parla, Pontevedra, Sabadell, Sagunto, San Fernando, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Santa Lucía de Tirajana, Santander, Talavera de la Reina, Toledo, Torrelavega, Torremolinos, Torrevieja, Utrera, Valladolid and Velez-Malaga.
In some of these cities, such as Valladolid, the wording of the standard is confusing and some drivers interpret that the animal can be carried in a carrier as hand luggage.
Other means of transportation
Other means of urban transport have been reviewed in the study. Thus, of the eight Spanish cities with Metro, Only Madrid and Barcelona allow access to the suburban network with the dog tied and with a muzzle walking with the traveler. Only small dogs in arms or carriers weighing less than 8 kilos can enter the Bilbao Metro. Granada, Malaga and Valencia only allow small dogs in a carrier, and Seville and Palma de Mallorca prohibit traveling with animals.
Of the 14 Spanish cities with tram, Madrid, Barcelona, Zaragoza, Bilbao, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Parla, Badalona and L’Hospitalet de Llobregat allow dogs without a carrier provided they have a muzzle (this is not necessary in Bilbao and Vitoria). On the other hand, the trams in Alicante, Castellón de la Plana, Murcia, Seville, Valencia and Santa Cruz de Tenerife only allow small dogs in a carrier.
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