Shoppers were left stunned when the holidaymaker decided to mount the life-sized model bovine outside a popular Ale-Hop store in Playa Fañabé, Costa Adeje, causing consternation among locals
Anglo-Iberian relations have taken another dent after a British man rode a well-known cow in Tenerife.
Shoppers were left stunned when the holidaymaker decided to mount the life-sized model bovine outside a popular Ale-Hop store in Playa Fañabé, Costa Adeje.
With the help of one of his two friends, the man was spotted climbing onto the plastic cow’s back before bellowing, “Yeehaw!” Within seconds, alarmed employees of a nearby shop ran over to remove the man from the cow. They then had to ensure that the tourists didn’t steal the cow. It comes after ‘the King of Benidorm’ warned that Brits make the same mistake when the visit the city.
The shop employees calmed the man, who had declared himself a “real cowboy”, according to Canarian Weekly. He gave up on his attempts to remove the cow after giving it one big tug on its horns.
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The incident has caused ire among locals, who have been left unimpressed by the daytime antics.
“It’s called disrespect, but well, that’s already normalized, like so many things,” one wrote beneath a post online including the video. Another wrote: “That’s the kind of tourism they send to the Canary Islands. It’s like this everywhere, and then the British press is surprised by the protests that take place.”
The incident is not the first cow-related shock to cause alarm on the Canary island. Back in 2019, tourists visiting Tenerife were left baffled by the sight of dead cows floating in the sea and being washed up onto the beaches.
The animals were spotted in areas popular for Brits over a seven-day period. One cow was washed up on the tourist beach of Playa de La Jaquita near the coastal resort of El Médano. Council workers were called to dispose of the carcass.
The cow corpses came from freighters loaded with live cattle, which travelled from South America. Such boats are forbidden from mooring at some ports in Europe, including Las Palmas in Gran Canaria. If and when cows die during the crossing, they are tossed overboard.
When it comes to alcohol-related incidents that have caused strife between Spaniards and Brits, there are plenty. Late-night brawls that have spilled onto the streets of Playa de las Américas have been a regular occurrence, as have visitors leaping into hotel pools fully clothed.
A group of holidaymakers were fined for climbing onto a parked police car for photos back in 2023, around the same time that a stag party blocked traffic by staging an impromptu conga line over a busy roundabout in Costa Adeje.