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Date Published: 09/09/2022

ARCHIVED - Last ditch attempts to prevent brutal Spanish bull run

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

The ‘cruel’ Toro de la Vega bullfighting festival is scheduled for September 13

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Last ditch attempts to prevent brutal Spanish bull run

The Ministry of Social Rights in Spain has launched a last-minute attempt to stop the controversial bull run in the Valladolid town of Tordesillas, scheduled for Tuesday September 13, by filing an objection with the Environment Prosecutor’s Office.

The ‘Toro de la Vega’ tournament is a medieval bull festival that involves lancers, either on foot or on horseback, chasing the animals through the streets into a corral. Participants used to carry spears and the winner was the person who managed to fatally wound the bull. Following severe criticism and countless protesting stemming back a decade, the town council changed the rules so that the animals may no longer be killed.

Nevertheless, competitors can still prick the bulls with daggers and other objects, which constitutes animal abuse, according to the Ministry, and can easily still lead to the death of the bulls.

Minister Ione Belarra has called for an immediate suspension of the Toro de la Vega, which hasn’t been held since before the pandemic, since it results in the “suffering of a defenceless animal” and the so-called tradition is “far removed from the values of the majority of Spanish society and of the spirit of popular festivals.”

With so much controversy surrounding the practice, both as a result of abuse to animals and the loss of human life, it appears that the days of bullfighting in Spain may be numbered. In fact, the Ministry has confirmed that it is studying ways to remove bullfighting from the recognition of cultural heritage, which was approved by the government in 2013.

With regard to Valladolid’s upcoming bull run next week, the Pacma animal rights group has presented a petition against the festival containing 74,000 signatures, which it says demonstrates the “social discontent” caused by the bullfighting tradition.

Also of interest: Hunters bite back as Spanish animal protection law includes working dogs

Image: Pixabay

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