Dozens of medieval torture devices protest bullfighting in Pamplona

Published July 5, 2024 By PETA employees.

3 minutes of reading

Ahead of Spain’s San Fermin festival – which includes the running of the bulls and 60 bullfights – a group of “bloodied” PETA and AnimaNaturalis supporters gathered in the Plaza Consistorial.

Protesters dressed in bull horns and imprisoned in medieval torture devices symbolized the suffering of 60 bulls that will be stabbed and slaughtered in front of a jeering crowd.

Why You Should Skip the Running of the Bulls

Each year, the bulls are forced to fight their way through the narrow streets of Pamplona, ​​escaping the jeering crowds. They often injure themselves by slipping on the cobblestones or hitting walls while trying to escape the crowds.

These bulls typically haven’t had much contact with humans before, so suddenly finding themselves in a group is unsettling and overwhelming for them.

Many people attending this cruel spectacle do not realize that the same bulls they are fleeing from in the streets are being tortured to death in the arena that same day.

Disturbing violence at San Fermín festival in Pamplona

During these events, attackers on horses drive spears into the back and neck of the bull before others drive into it. banderillas in the back, causing sharp pain each time he turns his head and limiting his range of motion. Eventually, when the bull weakens from loss of blood, the matador appears and attempts to kill the animal by driving a sword through its lungs or, failing that, severing the spinal cord with a knife. The bull may be paralyzed but still conscious because its ears or tail are cut off and presented to the matador as a trophy, and its body is dragged from the arena.

Read more about the cruel abuse of bulls during the San Fermin festival in Pamplona:

Torture, not tradition

More than 125 Spanish cities have banned the torturing and killing of bulls for entertainment, but in Pamplona this cruel spectacle still takes place.

Bullfights, like gladiator fights or public executions, must become history.

PETA is urging Spain to support the #NoEsMiCultura legislative initiative, launched by the Spanish animal rights organization, to repeal the law that recognizes bullfighting as “cultural heritage” and allow Spanish communities to ban this cruel, bloody sport.

You can help the bulls

Please sign our petition to the mayor of Pamplona, ​​calling on him to immediately put an end to this barbaric massacre: