Bulls Barbarically Killed, 2 People Gored and More Injured at Pamplona’s Running of the Bulls
Every year, the streets of Pamplona, Spain, are stained red with the blood of terrified bulls. As part of the annual San Fermín festival, the bulls are pursued through the city amid a noisy, chaotic crowd – made up mostly of drunken tourists – at the infamous Running of the Bulls. The same animals who are forced to slip and slide down the cobbled streets will later be stabbed to death in the city’s bullring.
At least 15 people have been gored to death during the festival over the years, and in each case, their deaths were entirely preventable. Numerous others have been maimed – so far this year, more than 15 people have been injured, including two who were gored but escaped with their lives. The bulls, of course, are never that lucky – six are killed each day.
San Fermín also has a long history of sexual violence against women, and many people are calling for an end to the festival in light of the 2016 sexual assault on an 18-year-old woman by five men.
Despite the multifaceted violence of the festival, it draws in thousands of people every year. Many tourists who attend the Running of the Bulls don’t realise that the animals who are forced to run through Pamplona’s streets are the same ones who will later be tortured and killed in the bullring.
There, as many as eight men taunt, beat, and stab a single bull with daggers and harpoon-like banderillas until he becomes weakened from blood loss. Then, the matador stabs the exhausted animal with a sword in an attempt to pierce his heart.
What You Can Do
Opposition to bullfighting is growing both within Spain and around the world. A recent poll revealed that an overwhelming 81 per cent of Spaniards don’t support the inhumane spectacle, and that figure rises to 93 per cent among 16- to 24-year-olds. More than 100 Spanish towns and cities have banned the blood sport altogether. Join them in rejecting cruelty to bulls by signing our petition to Spain’s Prime Minister calling for a national ban on bullfights and bull runs:
