The De-Objectification of Animals in the Spanish Civil Code

Abstract

The legal status of animals in the Spanish Civil Code is currently the subject to a process undertaken by the competent legislative bodies, aimed at changing their consideration to “living beings endowed with sensibility”, instead of as things, which is more common. This reform also includes corresponding changes in the Mortgage Law and in the Civil Procedure Rules. This piece analyses the antecedents, context and reasoning behind this reform within the general context of the de-objectification of animals, as well as some of the principles that will facilitate an understanding of the outcomes of this reform.