The Ministry of Social Rights has recently launched the administrative machinery to create a new law that, according to experts, will transform Spain into a “pioneer” state at the European and even global level. So far, nothing particularly interesting. What is striking is who this new regulation will be aimed at. The government claims that the “great apes”, gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees and bonobos, primates are much more than “sentient beings” and exhibit the qualities that define the human personality.

The debate is served.

What happened? The government has put in place administrative mechanisms to create a special law protecting great apes, a label that groups gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees and bonobos. The decision is not entirely new. Almost 20 years ago, a proposal was introduced in Congress in favor of the same primates, and in the Animal Welfare Act of 2023, the government set out to develop a standard for these creatures.

But neither has stopped the latest proposal from the Directorate General for Animal Rights from gaining traction. And it makes sense. Spain aims to develop a pioneering standard at international level.

More than just “sentient beings”While we await the detailed study of the draft bill, the report published by the Government to open the period of public consultation already advances part of the argument of the future norm, which starts from an important premise: great apes are “much more than sentient beings”, a category that Spanish legislation already recognizes for animals.

“Science has shown that they have cognitive abilities that bring them closer to humans, such as learning, communication or complex reasoning,” the Directorate General for Animal Rights says in its text: “Also, “at a higher level than we like”, great apes, like other mammals, appear to be equipped with self-awareness and determination in decision-making.

The organism reminds us that these large primates “share” the 15 characteristics that, according to the American bioethicist Joseph Fletcher, allow us to define human personality, such as intelligence, self-awareness, self-control, sense of time, intelligence, the ability to predict the future and the past or the ability to interact with peers.

“Special protection”. It is no coincidence that Pablo Bustinduy’s chapter emphasizes the special nature of the great apes. In the government’s view, it is these characteristics, their “status as sentient beings,” their “genetic closeness to our species” and their “high degree of evolution” that make it necessary to develop “special protection” for chimpanzees, bonobos and other creatures, such as gorillas and orangutans. The goal: to eliminate practices that could endanger their lives and “dignity.”

Neither for trial nor commercial purposes. Although the legislation still faces a long process and debate, the Government aims to close existing loopholes and achieve at least five goals. First: Experimentation and research on great apes should be expressly prohibited if the process causes them harm and the outcome is not “in their best interest”.

The rule also seeks to define the “difficult conditions” they must live in “for conservation purposes in all cases” and veto any commercial use, including spectacles that “infringe on the dignity” of the animal.

140 animals (minimum)It may be striking that it was Spain, and not a country with a native primate population, that began drafting a pioneering law, but the truth is that our country has a large number of great apes. More than 140, to be exact, according to the Jane Goodall Institute’s calculations.

The agency explains that this figure only takes into account specimens that live in zoos and rescue centers, where they arrive after being confiscated from individuals or rescued from illegal trade, voluntary surrender and exchange. There are also cases where animals are born directly deprived of freedom.

What does the data say? They know from the General Directorate Country It is known that around a hundred great apes are kept in the main zoos in Spain, but “the number that may have fallen into the hands of illegal or clandestine owners is unknown.” The Mona Foundation, based in Catalonia, shares an equally significant figure: Pioneer. According to their calculations, there were about 84 chimpanzees in custody. When the center spoke to the newspaper in July, they said there were 14 of them and they were expecting three more to arrive within a few days.

“The problem is that the reception centres in Spain and Europe are already saturated, so it is not possible to remove all those kept in zoos and we must better regulate their conditions and not lead to further population growth by preventing them from breeding, as they will remain locked up for life,” they warned.

317 observations. Proof that the draft law on great apes has attracted interest beyond the news in the media across the country is that the General Directorate of Animal Rights received 317 comments during the public participation phase that closed on July 31.

The information was revealed a few days ago by the director of the government agency, Joserra Becerra, via X. “All contributions will be studied and taken into account,” he assures: “The great apes (gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees) are extraordinary beings whose intelligence and character are close to those of humans.”

So what are your suggestions? Several organisations have made public their comments or observations on future Spanish legislation, notably the Jane Goodall Institute, which published a detailed and comprehensive list in notes sent to the Ministry of Social Affairs.

The first two are the most important: the end of captive breeding programs in Spain, since the institution claims that specimens born without freedom cannot later be reintroduced to the wild; and, in the long term, the direct end of captivity of great apes. Exceptions are foreseen only in very specific cases: animals confiscated and rescued from illegal trade and taken to appropriate rehabilitation centers.

These are not his only proposals. Among other issues, he demands that euthanasia be applied only in “very specific cases” where the animal’s welfare is at risk and that the use of these monkeys as actors or part of the cast in shows or audiovisual productions be strictly prohibited.

Breeding in captivity, in focusThe Jane Goodall Institute is not alone in calling for the law to focus on captive breeding. The Great Ape Project acknowledges that one of its main challenges is ending “captive breeding programs that are not supported by any independent scientific report.”

“We will certainly have to wait for the text proposed by the Directorate General, the attacks of those interested in the exploitation of non-human hominids, the atrocities that will be mentioned during the public discussion of the text in the two chambers,” the organization hopes that the norm will be a turning point. Remember, its claims reached Congress in 2006 and 2008.

“We will be pioneers”“This is a very preliminary step but we have been waiting for decades and to my knowledge I believe there is no law in the European Union on great apes similar to what they want to approve, so we will be pioneers.” ; “If there are regulations that protect them in general but not specific regulations,” he shared a few days ago. Pioneer Marta Merchán, president of the AAP Foundation.

Images | Marc Dalmulder (Flickr)

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