Sun, Sea, and Cats: Humano-Cat Cultures of the Costa del Sol

Keywords: Humano-Cat Cultures, Animals in Tourism, Free-Living Cats, Cat-Human Relations

Overview

Tourism along the Costa del Sol, Spain, is built around the classic ‘sun and sea’ style budget holidays and a culture of British migrants, sometimes referred to as ‘residential tourists’, who reside seasonally or permanently in the region. My focus is on the cultural interactions between local street cats and human residents and tourists.

This short video from 2024 provides an overview of the project:

How to participate/contribute to this research

Click here to take the Torremolinos cat survey!
This survey is intended for people who have visited Torremolinos (or live there).
Haga clic aquí para la versión en español

I am seeking individuals who live or regularly visit Torremolinos who would be willing to talk to me about the cats living in the La Carihuela area (online or in person). All views are welcome, even those that are not pro-cat. Confidentiality is guaranteed, and interview data would be anonymised according to standardised ethical guidelines intended to protect participants. To arrange an interview email: kristine.hill@uhk.cz

Download participant information sheet

Participant Information Sheet 2025 Download

Funding & Support

This project was initiated during my PhD research with the University of Exeter, UK. Continuation of the research is supported by a Visiting Professorship provided by the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Hradec Králové for the Winter/Summer Terms 2024/2025, and an International Research Teams (IRT) iInternal grant awarded by the University of Hradec Králové to Dr. Filip Jaroš and Dr. Kris Hill (Jan 2025-Dec 2026).

Peer-reviewed publications

K. Hill (2025). Cats, Community, and Tourism on the Costa del Sol: A Transspecies Ethnography. Tourism Geographies, 27(8), 1700–1718.
DOI: 10.1080/14616688.2025.2581193

K. Hill (2024). Humano-cat cultures of the Costa del Sol, in Emerging Voices for Animals in Tourism, edited by J. Hooper and C. Kline. Chapter 9, pp. 99-114. CABI. DOI: 10.1079/9781800625259.0009

D. Fennell et al. (35 authors, including K. Hill) (2024). Tourism, animals & the vacant niche: a scoping review and pedagogical agenda. Current Issues in Tourism, Online ahead of print. DOI: 10.1080/13683500.2023.2280704

See here for a full list of my publications.

Presentations

Upcoming Presentations:

Stay tuned…

Previous Presentations:

K. Hill (2025, 28-29 November). Sounds of the Seaside: A Multi-Species Sonic Ethnography of a Cat Colony on the Costa del Sol. Music & Cats, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany (Online). Programme here. (Coming soon!)

K. Hill (2025, 6-8 November). [Do Not] Feed the Cats: Feeding as Care, Spectacle, and Conflict. The Anthrozoology Symposium, Eighth Edition: Conscious Beings: Rethinking Animality and Awareness, The Institute of Economic and Social Research, Iași, Romania (Online). Programme here.

K. Hill (2025, 14-15 May). “Oh look, another kitty!”: Sun, Sea, and a Cat Colony living on the Costa del Sol. The Cat’s Pyjamas – Cats in Society and Culture 2, Uppsala University, Sweden. Programme here.

K.Hill (2024, 3-4 October).Sun, Sea, and Cats: A Multispecies Ethnography of a Colony of Cats (Felis catus) Living on the Costa del Sol. The 3rd International Anthrozoology Conference: Perspectives of the Human-Animal Relationship (University of Debrecen, Hungary/Hybrid). Programme here.

K.Hill (2024, 29 June). Sun, Sea, and Cats: Humano-Cat Cultures of the Costa Del Sol, Spain. International Society for Anthrozoology (ISAZ) 2024. Watch and Learn: The value of observing and being with animals, Hosted by Hartpury University (Gloucestershire, UK). Programme here.

K.Hill (2023, 8-10 March). Sun, Sea, and Cats: A Content Analysis of Travel Video Blogs Featuring Street Cats from the Costa del Sol, Spain. Emerging Voices for Animals in Tourism (EVAT). Organised by The Civet Project and Faminal (Online). Programme here.

K.Hill (2022, 17 March). Adored, abhorred, pitied, and ignored: Mediterranean street cats and human tourists? Emerging Voices for Animals in Tourism (EVAT). Organised by The Civet Project and Faminal (Online). Programme here.