Add The New York Post on Google A horse-drawn carriage driver was filmed flying into a rage at a kind-hearted German tourist who asked him to give his apparently thirsty horse some water — prompting an investigation.
The ugly confrontation unfolded in Palma de Mallorca, a Spanish island where temperatures hovered around 90 degrees.
Footage posted to Instagram Aug. 28 shows tourist Xenia Denise approaching the driver as a thin, listless-looking horse stands nearby.
View this post on Instagram “In Palma, there are still emaciated, thirsty horses!” Xenia wrote alongside the video. “I asked one of the owners if he could give his horse something to drink.”
But the seemingly innocent request sent the coachman into a fury.
The driver can be seen screaming at Xenia in a garbled combination of German, English and Spanish, calling her a “neo-Nazi.”
He then turned his tirade toward mocking her body, walking behind her and shouting “Look at that ass — she needs some McDonald’s,” then barking: “Go eat a hamburger.”
Calmly, Xenia continued asking him to give the horse water.
The driver finally appeared to relent — only to turn the water on her instead, splashing it directly into her face.
“By the way, he also actually put his hands on my face,” Xenia alleged.
Her message to tourists afterward was blunt: “DO NOT give these animal abusers any money . . . this kind of s–t needs to be stopped.”
“Why is nobody stopping him??” one commenter demanded. “He crossed the line when he touched her face and when he poured that water on her.”
“There is no justification for animal abuse or animal torture in the name of tradition or entertainment,” another fumed. “it has to stop!!!”
The Palma de Mallorca City Council has opened an investigation and is considering measures against the driver, according to La Stampa.
Animal rights party Progreso en Verde has demanded his carriage driver’s license be revoked and said it plans to take the case to prosecutors over alleged assault, harasssment and incitement to hatred.
“This is not the first time that situations like this have occurred,” group president Guillermo Amengual said, claiming numerous women have reported being verbally abused after complaining about carriage horses.
The carriage-drivers’ association has offered a different account of how the clash began, alleging Xenia’s group insulted the driver — including calling him a “gitano” — or Gypsy — before filming started.
Xenia ended her Instagram post by directing followers to a comments ended with PETA Germany petition calling for Mallorca’s horse-drawn carriages to be banned and replaced with animal-free alternatives.
The plea echoes efforts by activists in the Big Apple to ban horse-drawn carriages after teen tourist Romanch Mahajon was thrown to his death from a Central Park horse carriage when the animal allegedly bolted.
Xenia ended her Instagram post by directing followers to a comments ended with PETA Germany petition calling for Mallorca’s horse-drawn carriages to be replaced with animal-free alternatives.
The petition cites two incidents in Palma in which carriage horses collapsed within days of each other.
