Nude Activists Create ‘Sea of Blood’ to Protest Pamplona’s Sadistic Bullfights
Ahead of the Running of the Bulls at the San Fermín festival, dozens of animal advocates from PETA and Spanish animal protection group AnimaNaturalis gathered in the heart of Pamplona, Spain. Adorned in little more than “horns” and red floor-length veils, protesters pushed for the city to end the gory bullfights.
The activists commemorated the animals who are chased down the streets to their death in the bullring each year and called for an end to this annual bloodshed.
Esa Ennelin
Esa EnnelinWhat’s Wrong With the Running of the Bulls?
Every year, bulls are forced to scramble down Pamplona’s narrow streets as they run from a mob of tourists. They often injure themselves as they slip on the cobbled path or crash into walls in an attempt to escape the crowd.
These bulls have typically had little interaction with humans previously, and suddenly being thrust among this horde is distressing and overwhelming.
Many people who are lured into attending this cruel spectacle don’t realise that the same bulls they chase down the streets are slaughtered in the bullring later the same day.
Men taunt and stab each bull with a lance and several harpoon-like banderillas. When a bull becomes too weak to defend himself, the matador stabs the exhausted animal with a sword.
After the ritualised execution is over, the matador may cut off the bull’s ear or tail to keep as a sick trophy.
Torture, Not Tradition
More than 125 Spanish towns and cities have rejected the torment and butchering of bulls for entertainment, but in Pamplona, this cruel spectacle continues.
PETA previously offered Pamplona’s mayor €298,000 to cancel the Running of the Bulls – an offer that still stands.
Bullfights, like gladiator combats or public executions, must be consigned to the history books. Please sign our petition to the mayor of Pamplona, urging him to end this barbaric slaughter now:
