40,000 Take Part in PETA-Sponsored March Against Bullfighting in Madrid

An estimated 40,000 people took part in a massive anti-bullfighting march in Madrid on Sunday. The theme of the event, which was sponsored by PETA and several other animal-protection groups, was Tauromaquia Es Violencia (“Bullfighting Is Violence”).

The event began when hundreds of activists snapped props designed to look like banderillas (the barbed sticks used to stab bulls during bullfights) over their heads, creating a huge red cloud symbolising the blood of the more than 20,000 animals who are killed each year in bullfights in Spain. This was followed by a march through central Madrid, starting at the Puerta del Sol and ending with speeches outside the Reina Sofía art gallery.

In addition to the total abolition of bullfighting, the organisers called for a series of interim measures, including an end to public subsidies of the blood sport, its elimination from lists of the country’s cultural heritage, and a ban on children’s participation in bullfighting shows or attendance of bullfighting schools.

Every year, thousands of bulls endure painful, bloody deaths in bullrings across Spain. Attackers on horseback and on foot drive lances and sharp sticks into their necks and backs, and when they’ve become weakened by blood loss, a matador finally appears to kill them with a sword.

Bulls also suffer in bull runs, in which they’re chased through the streets by a terrifying mob. Disturbing footage recently shared by the Daily Mail shows a bull staggering and collapsing in a Spanish street after being locked in a cramped, dark box for hours before such an event.

What You Can Do

Please never attend bullfights or participate in bull runs. You can also sign our petition to the Prime Minister of Spain asking him to ban these cruel spectacles.