A heated confrontation erupted in Palma, Majorca, when a horse-drawn carriage driver allegedly threw water at German influencer Xenia Denise and branded her a “Nazi” after she urged him to let his horse drink.
Video from the scene shows Denise, 31, standing beside what she described as an “emaciated” horse while appealing to the driver to help the animal, saying: “Just give him something to drink.”
Instead, the exchange quickly turned hostile. The driver moved toward her and shouted back: “Go to McDonald’s and eat burgers.”
Moments later, the row intensified further as the man appeared to put his hands near Denise’s face before throwing water at her and using the insult “Nazi.”
Denise later explained that she had approached the carriage driver because she was concerned the horse was thirsty, saying she repeatedly asked him to provide the animal with water.
She claimed that, during parts of the encounter not shown in the footage, the man pointed at her body from top to bottom before walking behind her and yelling: ‘Look at that ass, she needs some McDonald’s.’
She later accused the driver of animal abuse and urged people not to give him money, while sharing a petition calling for the practice to be stopped.
‘There are still emaciated horses in Palma’, she wrote on social media. ‘Such s*** should be abolished’.
A furious horse-drawn carriage driver hurled water at a German influencer and called her a ‘Nazi’ after she asked him to give his horse a drink
Dramatic footage shows Xenia Denise, 31, standing beside the emaciated horse in Palma, Majorca, as she pleads with the driver: ‘Just give him something to drink’
But the man reacts angrily, getting in her face and shouting: ‘Go to McDonald’s and eat burgers’
But the man reacts angrily, getting in her face and shouting: ‘Go to McDonald’s and eat burgers’
The video has racked up millions of views, with many flocking to the comments section to share their support.
One person wrote: ‘I admire your strength so much, to speak up and to not back down. What this man is doing is absolutely unacceptable, those poor horses. Thank you so much for being brave and setting such a great example for the rest of us’.
Another added: ‘you were very brave. The world needs more people with empathy for animals who suffer at the hands of unscrupulous people.’
A third said: ‘I hope you take it to the police. How can people be like that?’
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Despite protests from animal activists, horses and donkeys are still forced to work in stifling heat at tourist hotspots across Europe.
The animals are often pushed to exhaustion during the summer months, when temperatures can reach 40C, with many appearing malnourished and in poor condition.
In 2022, footage captured a horse collapsing while pulling a carriage full of tourists through Palma, Majorca, in searing heat.
Horrified onlookers urged the driver to give the distressed animal water and told the tourists to get out of the carriage.
The horse eventually got back to its feet, although it is not known whether it continued the journey.
Denise is not the only animal lover to have confronted an owner over mistreatment of working animals.
She later accused the driver of animal abuse and urged people not to give him money, while sharing a petition calling for the practice to be stopped. ‘There are still emaciated, thirsty horses in Palma’, she wrote
Xenia Denise is a German fitness influencer
Last year, Dutch expat Joke Van der Post attacked a man she saw beating a donkey in Egypt.
Shocking footage showed the 47-year-old punching the animal’s handler before chasing him with a whip as he tried to flee.
The donkey could be seen kicking out as it was repeatedly lashed while tethered to a wall on the outskirts of Cairo.
Van der Post, who manages a veterinary practice called the Good Karma Sanctuary, ran at the man, pinned him against a wall and struck him several times while shouting: ‘You think you’re f****** normal.’
As he tried to flee, she grabbed a whip from another donkey handler and chased him away.
The man later filed a police complaint accusing Van der Post of assault and claiming the viral footage had caused him ‘psychological harm’, according to local media.
She was arrested and later released following the altercation.
The footage sparked outrage online and renewed scrutiny of the treatment of working animals in Egyptian tourist hotspots.