A neighbourhood association in Toledo has offered climate activist Greta Thunberg a donkey to make her journey from Lisbon to Madrid to participate in the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP25.
The 'Fray Hernando de Talavera' association from Talavera de la Reina in the province of Toledo, offered to provide Thunberg with a locally-bred donkey, underlining the fact that donkeys are an ecological means of transport and the one that was most used by our forefathers.
The offer was made via a letter on social media to the young Swede, who has just landed in Lisbon after crossing the Atlantic Ocean on a catamaran to avoid air travel's high carbon footrpint. She was offered a lift by a young Australian couple after the venue for the COP25 conference was changed from Chile to Madrid at the last minute.
The elected board of the Toledo-based association said in the letter that they fully supported Greta's fight to "raise awareness of climate issues around the world" and that "riding a donkey was once the most common form of transport and remains the one that has been most respectful of the environment". They also promised to "cover all costs" related to the journey.
In return, they hoped that the publicity generated by Greta Thunberg's journey by donkey would help raise awareness of The Holy Year of Our Lady of Guadalupe which begins in August 2020, as for centuries now donkeys have been the means of transport of choice for the thousands of pilgrims who make the 257km journey from Los Jerónimos Monastery in Madrid to the Monastery of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Cáceres.
Photo courtesy of the Asociación Protectora de Animales Burrolandia
