Spain may introduce law to protect great apes

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2006:

MADRID–The Socialist Workers Party of Spain, leading the
ruling parliamentary coalition since 2004, on April 24 announced
that it intends to introduce legislation to protect great apes.
Responding to news stories that linked the proposal to the
Great Ape Project goal of extending human rights to great apes,
Pamplona archbishop Fernando Sebastian reportedly called it
“ridiculous,” while Amnesty International representative Delia Padron
told the Indo-Asian News Service that she was “Surprised” that apes’
rights might be protected when some basic human rights still are not.
“We are not talking about granting human rights to great
apes, but about protecting their habitat, avoiding ill-treatment
and preventing their use in circuses,” clarified environment minister
Cristina Narbona.