Bullfighting? Sounds more like bullsh*t to some | SÍ Magazine | Feature

The American author Ernest Hemingway, who was both in love and repulsed by the bullfighting culture, once said: "anything capable of arousing passion in its favour will surely raise as much passion against it". No quote is better suited than this to elucidate the current mood about bullfighting in Spain. It’s a divide. Some are passionately for it, and some are against it.

Spain may be a beautiful country with a vivid culture, but the way numerous towns have celebrated by sacrificing the lives of animals for centuries isn’t so beautiful to many. Bullfighting is one of the barbaric cultural activities for which Spain is proud to be recognised. Originating from the ancient Roman times, this blood spectacle is still being preserved in many parts. We have 500 permanent bullrings in Spain. We’re so proud of this cultural ‘sport’ that we even put it on our souvenirs. A bull being tortured inside a crystal ball with the Spanish flag at the front so that people can remember that’s what we’re about - so adorable.

Fortunately, there has been a significant decrease in the popularity of bullfights over the years. According to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), bull killings in Spanish rings have declined by 56%, making the number of bulls stabbed and killed drop from roughly 16,000 in 2008 to about 7,000 in 2018. Additionally, a 2016 poll by Ipsos MORI found only 19% of people in Spain aged 16-65 supported bullfighting, compared to 58% who opposed it. Only one in four said they are rather proud to be living in a country where bullfighting is a cultural tradition. So what does this mean? It may mean that we’ll have to change our souvenirs. And most importantly that there seems to be a brighter future for animals in Spain. It looks promising that one day we won’t be seen as those ignorant people who abuse animals anymore.

There are still groups of Spaniards who love and strongly support bullfighting. Although they have had to give much ground since dictator Franco’s death in 1975, they wish to revive the tradition. Guadalupe Loera, administrator of a Facebook group which translates to ‘Only for Bullfighting Aficionados’, comments: “Bullfighting is a cultural activity that must prevail. It represents the eternal circle of men's lives when facing challenges”. She opines that "the bull dies with dignity in the bullring, not in a cold slaughterhouse and unable to defend itself".

Recent advances in the Southern region of Andalucía have emphasised the newfound importance of bullfighting as a political symbol. This is after far-right party Vox, who won 12 seats for the first time since 1975, in a regional election last December, negotiated several conditions with the Partido Popular including the “support for our traditions, hunting and bullfighting”. But some wonder, is this specific tradition supported due to corruption or because it matters that much to the Spaniards? Bullfighting is clearly big business, as according to data from the National Association of Bullfighting Organisers, Spain could lose an estimated amount of €3.6 billion (£3.1 billion) a year if it banned bullfighting.

Simultaneously, on the other side of the political divide, some sectors of the Spanish left have been working with animal rights activists to ban the tradition. Although defending bullfighting might have become a newly important political debate, anti-bullfighting campaigners have formerly won significant triumphs. In 2013, Catalonia became the second independent region in Spain to ban bullfighting, 20 years after the Canary Islands.

Jose Manuel Jiménez, an anti-bullfighting Spaniard, who was raised around the culture during the 60s, comments, “when I was younger, I remember there being all these prestigious bullfighting academies which would take in many young children to train them to be bullfighters. It was glamorised in such a way that becoming a bullfighter was the equivalent to becoming a footballer”. According to a report from El País, there are still around 50 bullfighting schools in Spain, and around 1,200 boys as young as 14 enrolled in them, some massacring calves and displaying the bull’s severed ears as trophies.

Bullfighting may be seen as a glamorous sport to some and a pure curiosity to others, such as the tourists who come to visit and who are heavily relied on by the bullfighting industry for financial support. Even though it is hidden from the public to avoid pity towards animals, this immoral tradition carries some vile facts that many won’t want to hear about. The first truthful fact is that the bull is not an aggressive animal. Apparently, it charges at the matador because it feels isolated and abused. The bull enters the arena and is approached by picadors, men or horses who push lances into the bull’s back and neck muscles. The lances are twisted and gouged to cause great blood loss.

Banderilleros – men with darts – then come in, distracting the bull and running around him while plummeting banderillas – a decorated dart – into its back. Once weakened from blood loss, the banderilleros will run around in circles until making the bull dizzy and unable to chase them. Finally, the matador then finishes the job by trying to cut the animal’s aorta off with his sword. If the matador misses, he switches a sword for a dagger to cut the spinal cord. If he fails, the bull is left paralysed but conscious when grabbed by the horns and taken out of the ring to be slaughtered.

But this isn’t all. Have we thought about the horses used in bullfighting? Often, these animals are blindfolded. They usually have their ears and nostrils compacted with Vaseline and cotton buds to block their senses, and this is all to avoid it from being afraid of the bull. They can be badly gored or killed by charging bulls. Also, their vocal cords are often mutilated to avoid them from screaming in fear when the bull approaches and from the pain of being attacked.

So, does a bullfight make a fair fight? Not according to World Animal Protection; it says “culture is no excuse for cruelty. Bullfighting is inhumane and causes prolonged suffering and extreme stress to the animals. We oppose the use of animals in entertainment, where such use adversely affects the animals’ welfare and pits animals and humans against one another for ‘sport’”. It also adds, “we understand that bullfighting is a cultural heritage issue in Spain and Latin America. We work across borders to promote the vision of a world where animal welfare matters and animal cruelty has ended. World Animal Protection advocates for a humane way to maintain the traditional relationship between bulls and humans in Spain and Latin America which does not cause any suffering to animals or humans”.

So, if you are going to a bullfighting-supportive country such as Spain, do enjoy the culture; eat a nice paella, go to a flamenco performance. But don’t be tempted by curiosity to step into this poor excuse for culture or a ‘sport’ that abuses animals so deeply and malevolently and which rely on your support to carry on this brutality.