Buying circus tickets for the children or grandchildren this winter? Spain’s ban on wild animals doesn’t mean every show is animal-free. Horses, llamas and camels can still appear, and a disputed Christmas circus in Valencia has raised questions about whether they should.

Does Spain’s circus ban cover every animal?

Spain’s national animal welfare law, passed in March 2023, prohibits wild species in circus performances, and circus owners were given a transition period that ended in March 2024. Using wild species in circus shows is classed as a very serious infringement, carrying fines of between €50,001 and €200,000.

Domestic species are not covered by that blanket prohibition, although regional and municipal restrictions may go further. Welfare obligations still apply though: the national law also prohibits animal performances that cause anguish, pain or suffering.

Valencia’s Christmas circus brought animals back

Valencia authorised animals at its Circ de Nadal, or Christmas circus, in December 2025 after changes to regional legislation. Animal welfare charity FAADA said this marked the return of animals to an authorised circus show after around a decade without them in the Valencian Community. The organisation listed equids, cattle, llamas, camels and birds among the animals participating. Permission did not extend to wild species such as pythons, boas or crocodiles.

Prominent animal protection and advocacy organisations FAADA, ANDA and AnimaNaturalis criticised the decision, arguing that circus entertainment should rely entirely on human performers. They also highlighted opposition from the Valencian circus professionals’ association, APCCV, which considered the authorisation a backward step for the sector.

A limping camel prompted a formal complaint

The controversy extended beyond the question of which species could legally perform. In January, Qué! reported that a video shared by activists had exceeded 500,000 views. The activists alleged that animals were pushed towards the performance area and that handlers used whips. They also relayed a spectator’s account of a camel struggling to walk. The newspaper reported that the circus’s programme allowed for changes for organisational or animal welfare reasons. That general notice preceded the subsequent formal complaint.

On April 8, AnimaNaturalis, AAP Primadomus, ANDA and FAADA, announced a joint complaint to Valencia City Council over alleged mistreatment of the camel.

They said recordings from December 2025 and January 2026 showed the animal continuing to perform despite a visible limp. The organisations requested protective measures and the opening of sanction proceedings. Their allegations should not be confused with a finding by the authorities that an offence occurred.

Should domestic animals still perform?

For the charities, the concern is also the life behind the ring. They argue that transport, confinement and training can compromise animals’ welfare even when the species is legally permitted.

The Valencia dispute leaves families with two separate questions: whether an animal can legally appear, and whether they even want to support a show that uses animals.

Spain’s wild-animal ban does not guarantee an animal-free show, and permission to use domestic animals does not remove the obligation to protect their welfare.

Spain’s traffic-light revolution has officially begun, but there is already a question hanging over it about how far it will actually go in reality.

New rules came into force on October 1 preventing vehicles from being shown a flashing amber light at the same time as pedestrians have a fixed green signal at a controlled crossing. Instead, when pedestrians have a green light, vehicles should have a fixed red light. That sounds simple enough. Making it happen across Spain’s thousands of junctions is another reality. The wider October road-rule changes are also bringing new requirements for cyclists, motorcyclists and electric scooter users.

Not every traffic light will be replaced

Drivers should not expect councils to rip out their existing traffic lights and install completely new systems. In many cases, the change can be made by altering the timing and sequence of existing signals. Fuengirola, for example, says it is reviewing and adjusting its traffic lights as part of an adaptation period rather than switching every junction overnight.

Its computerised traffic-light system should allow the town to make the changes relatively quickly. Other towns and cities face a more complicated job, particularly where changing the sequence could affect traffic flow.

Barcelona has 1,550 junctions in the spotlight

Barcelona has already raised one of the biggest practical problems facing the DGT. Around 1,550 intersections in the city currently have the type of traffic-light arrangement affected by the new rule, with a further 500 junctions involving flashing amber signals for bicycles also potentially affected.

Barcelona says that simply imposing the new system could reduce road capacity, increase congestion and require longer traffic-light cycles and additional phases. The city has been seeking a delay while the impact is assessed.

That raises an obvious question for the rest of Spain: how many junctions will eventually need changing, and who will pay for the work? No nationwide figure for the number of affected junctions has been published.

DGT has already opened the door to “exceptions”

This is where the story gets particularly interesting. DGT director Pere Navarro has defended the new system, arguing that it removes uncertainty by making the arrangement much clearer: when pedestrians have green, vehicles should have red. But he has also acknowledged that exceptions could be possible.

Speaking about the Barcelona dispute, Navarro said a junction could potentially retain flashing amber if a strong technical report showed that changing it would create more problems than benefits.

That means October 1 is not necessarily the day every affected traffic light in Spain changes. It could instead be the beginning of a much longer process in which individual councils review their junctions, change some signals and potentially argue to keep others.

Could drivers in Spain see a messy patchwork?

For drivers, that could create an unusual situation. A familiar junction might operate differently after being reprogrammed, while another junction a few kilometres away could retain its existing arrangement if it qualifies for an exception.

Navarro himself has admitted that the new rules could cause some initial confusion because drivers are not used to them. (Confusion? Like that of the introduction of the V-16 beacons?) He expects the new system to become normal over time, but says there is a major job ahead to explain the changes to the public.

For British residents and other foreign drivers, there is another complication. Traffic-light arrangements are not identical across Europe, so visitors cannot necessarily assume that a signal they recognise from another country has exactly the same meaning in Spain.

What happens next?

The legal requirement is now in force. The bigger question is how quickly Spain’s councils can put it into practice. Some, such as Fuengirola, have already started adapting their systems. Barcelona is arguing that a strict application could damage traffic flow, while the DGT has indicated that technically justified exceptions may be possible.

For drivers, the safest rule is also the simplest: follow the signal in front of you rather than assuming that a familiar junction still works in exactly the same way. Has Spain’s traffic-light revolution has started? Whether every affected traffic light actually joins it is another question.

In any case, seeing is believing. Let’s see what happens.

A €5.50 full English breakfast might not sound like the sort of thing that would ruin anyone’s holiday, but one Benidorm customer thought it was expensive enough to leave a one-star review. His complaint has since turned into a very public row after the owner of The Corner Bar responded online, defended what was on the plate and told him, rather bluntly, to “have a day off”.

The breakfast in question costs €5.50 and includes a fairly substantial list of traditional fry-up favourites. The customer, Peter Jones, nevertheless warned others about the price, saying he believed a full English could be found elsewhere in Benidorm for €4.50 or less.

Customer takes issue with €5.50 breakfast

Jones wrote in his review that people should be careful about the OAP discounts, particularly at breakfast, pointing to the €5.50 price and claiming that a full English could be found elsewhere for €4.50 (£3.86) or less. That €4.50 figure was Jones’s own comparison rather than a price established by The Corner Bar, so it is not evidence that an identical breakfast is generally available elsewhere for that amount.

The review caught the attention of Ashley, who runs the British-owned bar with her family. Rather than quietly accepting the criticism, she shared the complaint on Facebook and questioned whether the price alone justified a one-star rating.

She said customers were perfectly entitled not to like the food, service or even the people running the business, but objected to the suggestion that customers needed to be careful about the bar’s prices. The response quickly attracted hundreds of comments, turning one unhappy breakfast review into a much bigger discussion among people familiar with the bar.

What does €5.50 actually get you?

Ashley used the opportunity to spell out exactly what customers receive for the €5.50. The Corner Bar’s No4 breakfast contains one portion of English bacon, one Irish sausage, black pudding, a fried egg, toast made with Roberts bread, Heinz beans, fresh mushrooms and tinned tomatoes. It is also cooked fresh to order, either by Ashley herself or by two British cooks who, according to her, have been working at The Corner Bar for years. Her message to Jones was unmistakable: “Have a day off, Peter!”

The argument is particularly interesting in a resort where British-style breakfasts are hardly difficult to find. Benidorm has long had a market for inexpensive British food, from everything from traditional Sunday lunches to enormous breakfast challenges.

Customers rush to defend the bar

Once Ashley’s response appeared online, customers began coming to the bar’s defence. Several people who had eaten the €5.50 breakfast defended the price, with one customer saying the No4 offered good value. Another was less diplomatic, telling Jones that if he wanted to pay €4.50 he could do so, but suggesting that the cheaper breakfast would not be as good. Someone else simply pointed out that the difference between the two prices was only €1.

Ashley later thanked customers for backing the business, admitting that reviews can be difficult to read after a long day when you are running a small family business. She explained that The Corner Bar is a family business with five working members of staff alongside the owners and said they do their best to keep everything going.

The reaction also gives some context to the single one-star review. The Corner Bar has 1,170 Google reviews with an average rating of 4.5 out of five, while its TripAdvisor rating stands at 4.2 from 585 reviews. Michelle Baker, who has lived in Benidorm for more than 40 years, shared the story on her Benidormforever Facebook page and said: “LOVE that Ashley from The Corner Bar Benidorm called this chap out… there’s just no pleasing some people!”

Benidorm’s breakfast price debate

There is clearly no shortage of competition for anyone looking for a fry-up in Benidorm. EWN has previously reported on on Uncle Ron’s €9 Belly Buster breakfast challenge, which comes with four eggs, four sausages, four rashers of bacon, hash browns, toast, fried bread, beans, mushrooms and tomatoes.

That is obviously a very different proposition from The Corner Bar’s No4, but it shows just how varied the breakfast market can be in the resort. In this case, however, the argument was never really about whether €5.50 is the cheapest breakfast in Benidorm.

It came down to whether a customer considered the price enough of a problem to give a family-run bar one star, and whether the owner was prepared to let that criticism pass without answering back. Judging by the hundreds of people who joined the conversation, Ashley was certainly not the only person with an opinion.