Pedro Esquiva with his partner and his guide dog Lazarillo | A.R.

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On July 16, Pedro Esquiva, who’s visually impaired, travelled from Madrid to Majorca on Iberia Airlines with his guide dog Lazarillo and his partner for a few days vacation.

The return journey on July 19 was scheduled with Ryanair, but Pedro alleges that the Airline refused to let him on the plane, “because my dog's vaccination record was not to hand, despite the fact that the law allows travel on domestic flights without requiring this documentation."

The case has been forwarded to the ONCE and the Spanish Committee of Representatives for Persons with Disabilities and reportedly has the support of Aena.

Situation

Pedro and his family were due to fly back to Madrid at 22:40 and he says that “everything went very well, until I was banned from boarding the plane because I did not have the certificate with me."

He appealed to the Security Forces and Guardia Civil Officers were deployed to the scene, “but they couldn't help me because it was not an eviction,” he said, adding, “the Manager refused to give me her last name and her treatment of me was not correct. I told her that she had no humanity because of what she had done.”

The couple and their dog were able to stay at a friend’s house in Palma and bought new tickets with Iberia Airlines which cost 244 euros plus the cost of the taxi to the airport and the 68 euros they had already paid.

“It is not the first time that something like this has happened with Ryanair,” claims Pedro. “and I am going to report moral damages and claim the expenses because I don't want someone else to go through this.”