Stray Dogs

I can't say about other places, but it's unlikely you'll find many in Barcelona -"in" the city centre that is, in fringe neighbourhoods, especially closer to the natural park of Collserola, north of the city, and which is sort of a forest, then may be.

Firstly, here in Catalonia all domestic animals, ie dogs, must carry an electronic tag by Law, so, theoretically, no dog can remain "strayed". And then, if any dog is lost in the city, sooner or later will be spotted by the brigades of the Ecology, Urban Planning and Mobility department, or most likely they'll be called upon by concerned citizens, and they'll pick them up. Btw, should you find a stray dog act as a concerned citizen too... this is the procedure.

There's a hefty fine for owners abandoning their mascots -up to 3000€- but then, mascots have to be tagged in order to identify the owners, of course. Sadly, not everyone tags (and registers) the newborn puppies, especially if not born in a controlled veterinary environment, so there's still a number of untagged dogs in the city. The population in 2016 was of approx 160,000 dogs in Barcelona, so nearly 1 for each 10 Barcelonians and the number of abandonments was of 1,200 out of which roughly 50% were later adopted.

If you're curious for details: http://www.elperiodico.cat/ca/grafics/barcelona/hogares-gossos-barcelona-2690/ and about the most popular races: check slide 19 here: http://www.covb.cat/envios/ESTUDI%20AIAC%20PREMSA.pdf --note this refers though to the whole of Catalonia, not just Barcelona. You can also see the most common names (slide 24) and also the top names of famous people given to dogs and cats in slides 28 to end -which you never know whether it's meant as an honour or an insult, right? :)

This, of course, doesn't completely rule out you come across an abandoned or neglected dog.... there are all sorts of people in a city!

Lastly, I would like to point out that if you make escapades to rural areas, much like in most rural areas elsewhere, it's quite normal you see dogs "on their own"... this by no means necessarily means they're abandoned. In small towns, many owners let them do as they please and "go about" the town since it's a far more secure environment than a city.

Again, all of the above refers to my homeland, I can't speak for every other place you mentioned.

nope; I did not see any feral dogs in Spain. i know what you are talking about it was like that in Mexico.

No. I have a dog allergy and so look out for dogs without a responsible person near them and have seen very few in Spain. Occasionally in Granada there was an off leash dog, but an owner was nearby but maybe not in direct sight (around the corner or such). Other places dogs were on leashes or directly with a person.

Was just in Seville, Cordoba and Granada. Saw no stray dogs at all.

Three months in Spain last year (not including Andalucia). I don't remember any stray dogs, though I might have overlooked a few. I'm a cat person.

Thank you all very much. That is reassuring! And thank you Enric for all the information you posted. It would be good to know the procedure if we do come across a stray dog but unfortunately, I can't read Spanish! Also the other links that you posted would have made for interesting reading but again, I am not able to. In any case, I will do some research on local rescues and have their contact info handy just in case. I think this will make me feel better in case a pup crosses our path. Thank you again! This was my first time posting on this site and I'm very grateful for your responses.

@giacintar... actually is not Spanish, as the local language here in Catalonia is not Spanish but Catalan. Yet Spanish being co-official, you'll find many (but not all!) websites in both languages, especially in government sites. In this particular instance, you also have a Spanish version.

In any case, you can always copy the URL address posted above into your Google Translator and the result is quite reasonable.

Thank you! I didn't know that but will definitely do that.

I'll echo the others by saying no strays that I remember. S. America is a whole different story.

Thank you jaimeelsabio! The more similar responses I get, the better I feel! I just bumped into a friend today who suggested we also go to Rhonda and Nerja - that they are spectacular! Are we more likely to see stray dogs there, given they are in a more rural area?

Ronda and Nerja themselves are small cities, not rural areas. Unless you are driving around the outskirts, I wouldn't expect any more stray dogs there than in the other cities you asked about.

I have been to both Madrid and Barcelona several times each, Cordoba and Seville twice each. and Granada once over the past 10 years and never encountered stray dogs in any of them. I would not be overly concerned.

I've literally visited every province of the country and used to live near Jerez and Cadiz. Stray dogs are not a problem. Even on my most recent trip in May, driving northern Spain visiting large cities and small hamlets, I saw no stray dogs. Did see one huge snake crossing the highway near Zamora, but no dogs.

Thank you so much everyone!

Did not notice any strays on my recent trip to Barcelona and Andalusia, although I was not particularly looking out for them.

Thank you nbob757. I'm glad to hear it!