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few recent articles about the growing number of dogs on Mallorca, including a statistic that there are more dogs than people on the island, got us curious to learn more. We headed down to Portixol on a warm winter Sunday, where the boardwalk was filled with people, and their dogs, out and about – swimming, running, skateboarding and enjoying cafe-life. We spoke to a dozen dog owners, all of whom were very kind and happy to talk about their feline babies. If you are thinking about getting a dog, consider adoption. In Calvia there is a big rescue centre, @sos_animal_mallorca. There are so many lovely dogs looking for a home.  

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Our first stop was Charlie a small white chihuahua, who was enjoying the beach with his family. Iris, Charlie’s mom, noted that he loves to be with the family, going to the beach, out to breakfast or walking the streets of Palma.

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Mari Luz is the owner of Lola, a friendly, 9 year old beagle she adopted just six-months ago in Catalunya. Lola was loving the beach and happy to explore her new home.

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Luna was a new Mallorca arrival from Russia. She was adopted from a shelter in Russia, and her family drove her all the way here a little over 6-months ago. Luna is a mix-breed, “very cosmopolitan” and gentle, as she was trained to be with children. As her mom noted, “When she saw the sea for the first time, she immediately dove in and started swimming.”

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Louis (as in the former French King), is a regal, 10-year old French Breton. He lives in Portixol with his family and they come walking or swimming everyday.

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Balu, a 5-year old mix of border collie and German Shepard, was making friends with Maxi, who was just adopted two-days earlier. Maxi, who had a lovely silver chain collar, is a mix and part pastor Mallorquin.Their friendship seemed to be off to a great start.

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Venus is a gorgeous  3-year old Belgian Shepard Malinois, with perhaps the coolest dog collar we saw on our outing. The owner’s son is a dog trainer and rescuer, and that is where they adopted him. He’s part of the breed of dogs often trained for police work, but now, his favorite pastime, according to his owner, is to chase his little yellow ball back and forth for hours.

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Toro was pretty tired when we met him as he’d been out walking quite a bit. At 15-years old though, he was doing great. He was adopted as a puppy, when friends of the family had a new litter of puppies.

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Our second Luna of the day, is a smart and stylish black poodle. Ieva, his owner, brought him here from Lithuania about five years ago, but she noted, that Luna was now ‘puro mallorqina”, loving the sea and sand. His sweater was from Little Beast and was adorned with a lovely silver heart necklace.

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Greta is a cool, 1-year old Dachsund who loves to skateboard with her owner, Edu, both on the board and running alongside him.

Hulk was soaking up the sun with his mom, Cati. A Mallorcan ‘ratero’, he is 11 years old, and as Cati noted, “He loves to do what I love to do: Swim, walk, shop and be outdoors.”

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