Running of the bulls is held in almost every Spanish city and village. Despite the fact that the roots of bullfighting date back to the Bronze Age, when the main intention was not to kill a bull, hunderds of the bulls are killed for fun in Spain and other countries.
Bullfighting
Bullfighting, is a traditional performance performed especially in Spain, Portugal and some countries of Central and Latin America. The bullfighters stab the bull with a spear and then kill him with a sword.
In Spain alone, about 10,000 bulls are killed each year at around 1,700 matches per year. But more and more people consider this traditional spectacle a form of cruelty to animals.
Running of the Bulls
A traveler Dagmar K. from Prague, lived in Spain for a year. She witnessed Spanish traditional holidays in Montanejos and Puebla de Arenoso, region of Valencia.
Dagmar brings the observation from the small towns:
“The bulls were kept in a small space all day. The men irritated them, nudged them with sticks. They were throwing sand in their eyes to see harder.”
“They set fire to one bull’s horns at night.”
She was a witness of injuries: “I stood at a distance when they were about to release the bull. The people parted to give the bull room to escape. Suddenly everyone turned and ran after the bull. I didn’t understand what was going on. Then I realized. One man from the city had a leg entangled in the rope on which the bull was tied. The bull threw himself at the man, scooping it on his horns. The man ended up in hospital with a serious leg, head and face injury.”
Running of bulls and bullfithing annually require serious injuries and loss of life as a tax.
Dagmar mentioned: “Spanish residents argue that the media speaks about the situation worse than it actually is.”
Fun or Abuse?
“People stood in security cages that run in the streets along each house. Others looked out the windows and balconies. Everyone, men, women and small children, were cheerful and smiling. Occasionally a brave man moved closer to the bull to touch him. People were cheering for him. People were cheering for people. ”
Animal protectors try hard to abolish this sadistic pastime. In Catalonia, they succeeded in 2012, but the Constitutional Court lifted the ban in 2016. Its supporters warn that bulls enjoy a life of three to four years of luxury. Death comes as quickly as in a slaughterhouse. The fact that the fight raises their adrenaline levels so that they do not perceive pain at all, only anger. They aim to declare bullfights a cultural heritage.
“I saw very young torerors (bullfighters). They could have been around 13 years old. They learned this traditional skill at the toreror school. A lot of kids dream about becoming a toreador. To be a bullfighter is a tribute and they are considered to be elite of Spain,” said Dagmar.
In some Latin American countries, such as Uruguay, Ecuador and Costa Rica, bullfighting is already banned.
Credit: Dagmar K., pixabay.com
