VIA DUCK, WHY, NO A PIGEON?

A Chinese restaurant in Madrid’s Usera district has been shut down after police discovered it was serving street pigeons disguised as roast duck.

During a late March raid on the Jin Gu restaurant, authorities found plucked pigeons, questionable meat, and illegally obtained sea creatures in a hidden, cockroach-infested storeroom. Police believe the pigeons were caught locally and prepared in the kitchen without proper documentation.

“It’s not illegal to breed pigeons in Spain, but there was no paperwork—so we’re confident they were taken from the streets,” according to a police spokesman.

Behind a sliding shelf in a filthy bathroom, officers uncovered a concealed room where defrosted meat strips were drying on a clothes rack. Eight broken freezers were crammed with untraceable meat, fish, and possibly banned sea cucumbers. Bags of bivalve mollusks believed to come from Asian wetlands were also found, along with rat traps baited with rotting meat.

Police said the hidden room contained over a ton of illegal food products.

Though open for over ten years and with some positive online reviews, the restaurant has also drawn complaints of strange-tasting ducks and poor hygiene. One review warned of “terrible food” and an unclean kitchen, while another claimed family members became ill after eating there.

The unnamed owner is under investigation for public health violations and trafficking in protected species.