Cat Colonies
Marbella begins to regulate its feral cat colonies
On the 28th September 2023, Law 7/2023, of 28 March, on the Protection of Animal Rights and their Welfare, came into force. Articles 38 to 42 regulate cat colonies in the framework of collaboration with citizens and associations.
On the 9th April 2025, the Cat Colony Day organised by the Malaga Veterinarians Association together with Marbella Town Hall took place. The Councillor for Health, Alejandro González, announced that on the 22nd April the Ordinance regulating Cat Colonies will be approved by the Local Government Board. The text will undergo public consultation, meaning its final approval will still take months.
Volunteers are getting organised: there is an initial database cat feeders and their colonies. A WhatsApp group has been set up to keep everyone informed of the latest news.
In order to feed the cats, you will need to be registered and have a card from the Town Hall. From the 23rd April onwards, the form you will have to fill in to request your card should be available on the Town Hall website. Feeding at the entrance to schools and hospitals or in public parks will be banned.
We do not yet have a draft of the text of the Ordinance, which must in any case respect the Technical Guideline of the General Directorate of Animal Rights on Feline Population Management. According to this guideline, all feral cats are Town Hall property.
If the cats are on private land — whether owned by an individual or a community — they must allow the colony to be managed according to the TNR (trap-neuter-release) protocol, and the animals must remain on their land. If they do not allow this, the owner of the land (or the community) will be regarded as owning the cats too. They shall have to microchip them in their own name, vaccinate them, neuter before six months of age and feed and care for them during the rest of their lives, all at their own expense.