The Catalan donkey breed finally recognized by France “after ten years of effort”

The mobilization of southern Catalonia: the Catalan donkey breed has been recognized on a European scale. Which forced France to do the same on September 5. In Ponteilla, Delphine Danat is the very last breeder of Catalan donkeys in France, she has around thirty in her donkey farm. There are only a few hundred Catalan donkeys left in the world and it is for them that she fought, “alone”, “ten years of effort”of “combat” to achieve this recognition. “The French State, therefore the Ministry of Agriculture, as well as the French Horse Riding Institute, have the obligation to include the words Catalan donkey breed on this donkey and they will no longer be able to attach a label to it. which is not his”namely that of the Pyrenees donkey or the Grand Noir du Berry.

The recognition of the Catalan donkey breed should have a real economic impact for the Pyrénées-Orientales, according to Delphine Danat. The revival of the breed via the installation of new breeders, supported by the State, first. And then “the terraces of Collioure or Banyuls-sur-Mer, all this dry stone heritage which is UNESCO world heritage, it cannot be saved without the Catalan donkey, but also our agriculture because we know that with global warming, we will have to work on the foothills, in areas much higher in altitude, very steep, with very pronounced slopes, and the only animal capable of working in these conditions is the Catalan donkey”.

The Catalan burro is also an undeniable tourist attraction. “Without any advertising, without any support, I receive 2,500 visitors per year in my donkey farm, testifies Delphine Danat. I do, I think, as much as the bear festival in Arles-sur-Tech, which has been recognized as a UNESCO world heritage site.”.