Evan Thomas runs with the bulls in pamplona. www.evanthomas.me
It was dinosaurs not bulls turning heads in Spain this Tuesday.
After a two year hiatus, the San Fermin bull run has returned to the streets of Pamplona, to the dismay of animal rights groups.
The Spanish festival sees 42 young bulls run the streets towards the bull ring, where they are later killed during bullfights.
In previous years the "running of the bulls" has attracted up to one million visitors to Spain to observe the ritual, or in some cases, join the horned animals. Australians and New Zealanders have been among the 20,000 runners in the Encierro [En-thi-er-oh].
It's a dangerous, not to mention controversial, pastime.
A spokesperson for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) said it was meant to be a joyous protest.
"Bullfighting is a long ritualised execution of bulls and many tourists who come to bullfights don't really realise that the very bulls they run through some streets are later killed in the bullring that day," said Chelsea Monroe, director of digital campaigns for PETA.
People dressed as dinosaurs and wearing the colors of San Fermin Festival protest against animal cruelty in Pamplona, Spain. Photo / Alvaro Barrientos, AP
The mischief was supposed to show that San Fermin could be fun and cruelty free. PETA said it was against bullfighting, not the festival.
For the past 18 years the campaigners had been protesting the bull run. In previous years protests including the 'running of the nudes' have brought issues of animal welfare to the forefront. However in 2020 the pandemic did something the animal advocates never could, and halted the festival on public health grounds.
They told AP they were deeply disappointed to see the bullfights return this year.
"The debate about the future of bullfighting in Spain has never been more alive and the authorities have a duty to position themselves on the issue without half measures," said Jana Uritz spokesperson for Spanish group AnimaNaturalis.
Bull Run returns
Bullfighting is banned in the Canary Islands and has been stopped in the Balearics. The most recent figures from the Ministry of Culture showed that only 10 per cent of Spaniards had attended a bull fight.
While it is a pursuit that is followed by a small but devoted audience across Spain, France and South America, there are few towns in which spectators get as close as they do in Pamplona.
Since 2005 there have been 78 runners injured by the bulls, eight of whom were from Australia or New Zealand. There have been around 15 deaths in the past 110 years.
