Valencia Has Opened Spain's First Municipal Veterinary Centre Dedicated Entirely to Stray Cats

Valencia city council has opened Spain's first municipal veterinary centre dedicated entirely to stray cats.

Valencia is home to more than 22,000 stray cats, organised into over 600 colonies and looked after voluntarily by around 450 people.

The new centre is housed in a building on the roundabout at Plaza de Saragossa, refurbished for €60,000. It includes an operating theatre with two surgical units, a laboratory with diagnostic equipment, an X-ray room, recovery wards for animals, and dedicated cleaning and disinfection zones. To bring an animal in, an appointment must be booked in advance.

On its very first day in operation, the centre saved the life of a cat the vets named Pepa. During a routine spay, doctors discovered she had pyometra — a potentially fatal uterine infection. Without timely intervention, the animal would not have lived more than a month.

The city council carries out around 2,000 sterilisations every year. In 2026, €50,000 will be allocated for food for stray cats, and improvised feeding stations will be replaced with purpose-built feeding shelters.

The new centre has been opened as part of the Spanish law requiring municipalities to apply the "trap, neuter, return" method. This approach makes it possible to keep track of the animals, manage their feeding and health, and ease tensions between residents and street cats.