This is the moment a British tourist was savagely attacked by a donkey taxi owner on Spain‘s Costa del Sol while trying to document what he said was ‘horrific animal abuse’.
Ian Grace, 52, began filming after seeing six donkey-drawn carriages running in ‘insufferable heat’ in Mijas, Andalucía last weekend, with temperatures pushing 37C.
He had just started documenting the ‘stinking hot’ conditions the animals were being made to work and sleep in at the stables when a man ‘ran around the barrier and smacked him in the face’.
Mr Grace was knocked to the ground and pinned down by the man who he said repeatedly punched him in the face, smashing his glasses and throwing his phone.
The British businessman told The Olive Press the owner screamed ‘I’m going break your head’, leaving him with various cuts to the face and neck as he tried to stream to social media as bystanders only watched on.
Video showed the donkey owner call for the man to stop filming before the brawl. Caption reads: ‘A man is assaulted by a muleteer of the donkey-taxis of Mijas’
A man looks on from the side as a man appears to punch a man on the ground, in Mijas
Mr Grace was left with a bloodied face after confronting the man in Mijas
Mijas is home to a great deal of Andaluz donkeys, historically used by locals to get to and from work before the advent of cars (Illustrative image)
Video from the Facebook live stream showed the driver shouting ‘don’t record me’ in Spanish as Mr Grace threatened to call the police.
At one point he approaches and jolts the camera as Mr Grace cries out, ‘get off me!’
Mr Grace is heard panting after the encounter and reiterates, in English, his threats to call the police.
A second clip, shot from a distance, shows the donkey owner on the ground and pinning Mr Grace down.
Donkeys can be heard braying in the background as the two men tussle on the floor.
One bystander ducks under a barrier to try to confront the men as the driver’s shirt is pulled off.
Pictures from the aftermath showed Mr Grace with a black eye and a scratch around his nose.
The 52-year-old also appeared to have a blood on his neck and bruising between his eyes.
‘I’m an activist and I’ve stood up to abusers before, but I have never been assaulted like that,’ Mr Grace told the Olive Press after the violent encounter on August 18.
‘He couldn’t abuse the animals so he turned on me instead.’
But a woman claiming to be the daughter of the driver has since hit back, defending her father.
‘Andrea’ claimed the ‘abuse’ continued until the donkey drivers were forced to pack up due to high temperatures at 7pm.
‘I’d like to know how you would react if someone went to your business and told people not to come in all day,’ she said.
‘Without doubt, some of you would’ve had less patience and would have reacted in the same way.’
She continued that her father is ‘no abuser’ and that he ‘takes very good care’ of the donkeys, in spite of the persistent criticism they receive.
Andrea said that the ‘abuse’ of her father became ‘bullying’ last month when a video went viral of one of the donkeys collapsing in the heat.
She suggested the donkey simply fell over ‘as any animal could’.
Soon enough a small crowd gathers as the two men continue wrestling on the ground
Mijas is home to many Andaluz donkeys, historically used to carry workers home, later tourists
Mr Grace shared pictures of himself with injuries after the encounter in the south of Spain
Mr Grace, who lived in Shrewsbury but spends a lot of time in Spain, maintains that the practice is a ‘stain’ on the country.
‘I love Spain but this is abusive, I want to empower people to document the plight of the donkeys,’ he said.
‘What the post by the donkey owner’s daughter doesn’t say, is that four to six horse carriages and two donkey drawn carriages passed me at 06:30 pm in the sweltering heat when it was illegal for them to be out,’ he told The Olive Press.
‘I have not harassed anyone at all, this is damage limitation by a donkey owner’s daughter who was not there, she is a handmaiden for her father spreading mistruths about me.’
The violent exchange has since prompted a demonstration urging tourists to boycott the controversial practice.
Free Mijas Donkeys and Horses, an animal rights activism group, organised the protest for August 22.
Some 100 people were expected to gather outside the tourism office from 1:00pm.
Anne Freedom, the leader of Free Mijas Donkeys, claims despite the town hall’s attempts to make the practice more ethical, donkey owners ‘do not respect the rules’.
There are restrictions in place to stop the use of donkey taxis when temperatures run high, and bans on operating in the hottest hours of the day even in cooler weather.
Yolanda Morales, spokesperson for the animal rights political party, PACMA, told The Olive Press that none of the restrictions carry any legal weight, however.
‘They’re just recommendations.’
Ms Freedom says despite government pledges to clamp down on the abuse of animals, it will ‘take a long time’ to effect marked change.
She suggested swapping the donkeys for tuktuks, or creating a new attraction like a sanctuary, could ease the transition without destroying livelihoods.
Mijas is home to a great deal of Andaluz donkeys, historically used by locals to get to and from work before the advent of cars.
The donkeys have been used as working animals for many years, and in Europe for some 3,000, according to a local travel guide.
According to local folk history, tourists became enchanted with the donkey taxis in the 1960s and persuaded locals to take them for a ride.
Offered generous tips, some residents soon saw the donkey rides as a means of making a living, paying well above local wages.
Protesters gather in opposition to the donkey taxis popular in Mijas for over 60 years
Ms Freedom suggested swapping the donkeys for tuktuks, or creating a new attraction like a sanctuary, could ease the transition without destroying livelihoods
But working in high temperatures can come at a cost to the animals, made to work long hours in Spain’s arid southern province.
Laura Riera, equine lead for the Foundation for the Assessment and Action in Defence of Animals (FAADA), said the ‘intelligent’ creatures are not given even the ‘minimum amount of care’.
‘Most learn to accept their own powerlessness and become extremely depressed.’
According to the equine expert, the animals should not work in temperatures above 25C, restricting them to the winter months when fewer tourists visit Spain.
‘The heat affects donkeys and horses much more than people,’ Riera explained.
‘Their body temperatures rise much faster than ours and it’s dangerous. They can get dehydrated, have health problems, and cramps. It’s brutal.’
Elisa Allen, Vice President of PETA, told MailOnline that donkeys, ‘some of whom are lame, pregnant, or elderly’ are being ‘marched into the ground’ in this line of work.
The group has shown how many suffer from painful abrasions and wounds due to ill-fitting tack, are beaten by handlers with sticks and denied ‘the most basic essentials like rest and water, and most will end up at a slaughterhouse’.
‘The practice of using donkeys as “tourist taxis” is cruel and should be obsolete in an age of buses, bicycles, cars, and e-scooters, not to mention that many of us can simply use human foot power,’ she said.
Activists claim Mijas town hall is already considering a ban, as they are ‘fed up’ with complaints from tourists and fear they are avoiding the town altogether.
Nine months ago, the new PP government established an animal welfare department with measures aimed at improving the donkeys’ wellbeing, such as dedicated veterinary services.