The municipality of Alhendín in the province of Granada has inaugurated its first “Cat Hotel”, a specially adapted shelter designed to protect community cats living in local colonies. The project has been developed with support from the Fundación Unicaja and the town’s local authority, Ayuntamiento de Alhendín. The initiative forms part of ongoing efforts in the town to improve the management and welfare of stray cat colonies while promoting responsible and humane animal control policies.

New shelter created from recycled container

The Cat Hotel has been built using a recycled bottle bank container that has been modified to provide safe shelter for cats living outdoors. The structure has been adapted so that animals can enter easily while remaining protected from rain, cold and high summer temperatures. Inside the container, the space has been prepared to provide a secure refuge for community cats that live in managed colonies in the municipality. The project demonstrates how existing urban infrastructure can be reused to support animal welfare initiatives.

Local volunteers and animal welfare advocates collaborated in the design and installation of the shelter to ensure it meets the needs of the cats that will use it.

Community organisations involved in the project

The shelter was promoted by the volunteer association Colonias Felinas de Alhendín Bigotes Solidarios, a group that works locally to monitor and care for cat colonies across the municipality. The association collaborates with the local council to supervise feeding points, monitor the health of cats and assist with sterilisation programmes designed to control colony populations. Support from the Fundación Unicaja helped make the Cat Hotel project possible, providing resources for the construction and installation of the structure.

Local authorities say cooperation between volunteers, charities and public institutions is an essential part of managing community animal populations effectively.

Part of a wider cat colony management strategy

The project forms part of the wider system used across many Spanish municipalities to manage stray cat populations through the CER method, which stands for Capture, Sterilise and Return. Under this approach, cats living in colonies are captured humanely, sterilised by veterinarians and then returned to their original territory. This method aims to stabilise colony populations, improve animal health and reduce uncontrolled breeding.

In addition to sterilisation, volunteers and local authorities monitor feeding areas and provide shelters so that animals can live in safer conditions while remaining within their established territories. The Cat Hotel installed in Alhendín is intended to complement this approach by offering a protected space for cats within the colony network.

Location and purpose of the new facility

The shelter has been installed on the old Motril road in the municipality, an area where community cat colonies are present. By providing a designated refuge, organisers hope the structure will help protect animals from harsh weather conditions and reduce the risks they face when living outdoors. Volunteers working with local cat colonies will continue to monitor the animals that use the shelter and ensure it remains clean and suitable for use.

According to organisers, the initiative also aims to raise awareness about responsible management of community cats and the importance of humane population control methods.

A model that could expand locally

The installation of the Cat Hotel is being viewed as a pilot project that could lead to additional shelters being created in other areas of the municipality in the future.

Local officials say that if the initiative proves successful, similar structures could be installed in other locations where managed colonies exist. Animal welfare groups increasingly promote shelters of this kind as part of broader programmes to improve conditions for community cats while maintaining balanced urban ecosystems.

Growing attention to urban animal welfare

Across Spain, municipalities are expanding programmes to regulate and manage cat colonies following new national legislation on animal welfare introduced in recent years.

These policies encourage cooperation between councils, veterinary professionals and volunteer organisations to implement humane population control and improve the living conditions of animals that cannot easily be rehomed.

The Cat Hotel in Alhendín reflects this broader trend, combining local volunteer efforts with institutional support to address the needs of community cats in a structured and sustainable way. Officials say the project represents an example of how small-scale initiatives can contribute to improving animal welfare while maintaining responsible management of urban wildlife populations.

A groundbreaking EU regulation on dog  welfare could soon transform the lives of Spain’s hunting dogs, ending years of unequal treatment.

Hunting dogs in Spain face a massive divide in basic rights compared to companion pets. Thousands of Podencos, Greyhounds, and similar breeds in Spain endure minimal oversight in kennels or during hunting seasons according to advocates. Spanish Law 7/2023 excludes hunting dogs from key protections, treating them more like production animals than the sentient beings they are and the treatment received due to established laws. This leaves them without mandatory microchipping, traceable ownership, or systematic checks on living conditions. Abandonment tends to peak at season’s end, with authorities struggling to hold owners accountable due to absent records. It also overwhelms animal shelters which have a no-kill policy for healthy creatures. This is not true for all hunters and their dogs, as many professional hunters treat their dogs with care. However, full oversight in Spain is sadly lacking.

Why are hunting dogs exempt from laws regulating pets’ rights?

Political choices sometimes put rural traditions first as well as the interests of the hunting lobby. In Spain, law 7/2023 deliberately carves out exceptions for hunting breeds, classifying them together with livestock rather than companion animals. In many rural cases, the animals are viewed tools for activities like hare coursing or driven hunts rather than family pets deserving of the same safeguards their pet fellows enjoy. Critics argue this creates a two-tier system. While pampered urban dogs can enjoy legal protections against abuse, hunting dogs often remain invisible to welfare enforcement. Subsequently, many abandoned hunting dogs end up overloading animal rescues.

However, an EU proposal now promises universal traceability through mandatory microchipping and national database registration for all dogs, regardless of purpose. Amendments adopted in June 2025 have reinforced inclusion without exceptions, defining working dogs, including those of hunters, under the same rules, which until now they have not been in Spain.

How the proposed system would work

Interoperable EU databases would link Spain’s fragmented systems, enabling better abuse investigations and curbing any illegal trade. A ban on non-therapeutic mutilations like tail docking would apply more broadly, though exceptions continue today for certain breeds.

Implementation hurdles are the biggest obstacle in Spain, though, despite the regulation’s potential. National proposals to reform laws still exclude hunting dogs from the standards pet animals enjoy, with separate rules possibly offering even laxer oversight.

What can one do to pressure their MEPs?

Campaigners are currently encouraging people to contact their MEPs directly via email, phone, or social media to encourage full transposition of laws without loopholes. Support campaigns from groups like AnimaNaturalis, sign petitions demanding equal protection, and join advocacy efforts highlighting abandonment statistics. Public pressure has proved effective in shaping EU amendments in the past, and citizens can push MEPs to put animal sentience higher on the agenda over hunting exemptions during final adoption stages.

Animal welfare advocates remain hopeful this landmark EU move forces Spain to bridge the gap, granting hunting dogs the recognition they deserve as sentient individuals.

A striking new visual released by NASA has drawn attention to a phenomenon many people across Spain recently experienced first-hand: a vast cloud of Saharan dust drifting across Europe. Satellite data analysed by NASA’s Earth Observatory shows how a massive plume of desert dust moved north from Africa during the first days of March 2026, turning skies hazy and leaving behind the familiar “mud rain” that coated cars, streets and balconies across parts of Spain.

For several days, the dusty haze hung over the Iberian Peninsula and much of western Europe, carried by strong winter winds from the Sahara. While many residents simply noticed unusual skies or dirty rainfall, the event looked very different from orbit – where NASA’s monitoring systems captured the full scale of the atmospheric movement.

NASA satellite data reveals Saharan dust spreading across Europe

Using its GEOS atmospheric model (Goddard Earth Observing System), NASA recreated how the dust cloud developed between March 1 and March 9. The model combines satellite observations with atmospheric physics to track how particles move through the air.

The images show several large plumes of dust lifting from north-west Africa before being carried across the Mediterranean by high-altitude winds.

Part of the dust drifted westwards across the Atlantic Ocean, but another major stream travelled north, eventually reaching Spain, France and large areas of western Europe.

From space, the dust appeared as a broad brown cloud stretching across the region, explaining the murky skies many people noticed on the ground.

Residents reported the unusual conditions from southern Spain all the way to northern Europe, including southern England and even the Alps, where dust particles settled across mountain landscapes.

During the event, sunsets often appeared deeper red or orange as sunlight filtered through the suspended particles.

Why Spain often sees Saharan dust events

For people living in Spain, Saharan dust intrusions are not entirely unusual.

Meteorologists refer to the phenomenon as “calima”, a weather event where strong winds lift fine sand and dust from the Sahara and transport it across the Mediterranean.

Spain’s geographical position makes it particularly exposed to these episodes. When certain weather patterns develop — especially strong winds combined with low-pressure systems — dust can travel thousands of kilometres north.

In this case, winter winds pushed vast amounts of dust into the atmosphere, allowing it to spread widely across the continent.

Although the particles are tiny, they can remain suspended in the air for days, affecting visibility and air quality before eventually settling back to the ground.

Storm Regina helped trigger Spain’s famous ‘mud rain’

The dusty skies alone would have been noticeable enough, but another weather system turned the event into something even more visible on the ground.

The dust cloud arrived in Europe at roughly the same time as Storm Regina, a low-pressure system that moved across the Iberian Peninsula in early March.

As the storm brought rain to parts of Spain, France and southern England, the moisture mixed with the suspended dust particles in the atmosphere.

The result was the phenomenon many residents recognise immediately: mud rain.

Instead of clear raindrops, the precipitation carried microscopic grains of desert dust, leaving behind a thin brown film on cars, windows and outdoor surfaces.

Across southern and eastern Spain in particular, residents woke up to find vehicles and terraces covered in a dusty residue after the rain passed through.

From space, the scale of the phenomenon becomes clear

While mud rain is familiar to many Spaniards, the NASA imagery reveals just how large these dust events can be.

Seen from orbit, the plume covered enormous portions of western Europe, stretching thousands of kilometres from its origin in the Sahara.

According to NASA’s Earth Observatory, these dust transport events are an important part of the planet’s atmospheric system.

Saharan dust plays several roles in the global environment. It can influence air quality, cloud formation and even ocean ecosystems, as minerals from desert sand eventually settle into the sea and act as nutrients for marine life.

However, when the dust concentration is high, it can also affect visibility and worsen conditions for people with respiratory problems.

A reminder of how connected Earth’s weather systems are

Events like this highlight how weather patterns in one region can have visible consequences thousands of kilometres away.

Dust lifted from the deserts of northern Africa can cross continents in just a few days, affecting skies across Europe and sometimes even travelling across the Atlantic.

For residents in Spain, the phenomenon may have felt like a local inconvenience – cars suddenly coated in brown dust and skies looking strangely hazy.

But from space, the event tells a much bigger story.

NASA’s satellite observations show how a single atmospheric system can link the Sahara, the Mediterranean and Europe in one sweeping movement of air and dust, reminding us that the planet’s climate and weather systems are deeply interconnected.

And sometimes, what looks like a simple dirty rainstorm on the ground is actually part of a much larger spectacle unfolding high above the Earth.