As Bullfighters Ask For A €700m Coronavirus Bailout, It’s Time To End This Cruel Blood Sport Once And For All.

As Spain continues to battle the coronavirus, our beleaguered Spanish friends have erupted in fury on social media at the demands of many bullfighting organisations that the government provide financial relief to save the blood sport to the tune of €700 million euros.

Several organisations that support bullfighting have asked the Spanish government to refund tickets for shows that have been cancelled due to the coronavirus. In additional, they expect the government to pay the bullfighters’ wages and cover sanitary and veterinary expenses while the crisis continues.

The backlash their request has provoked among Spanish citizens comes as Spain’s coronavirus death toll exceeds China and is second only to Italy.

Having lived in Andalucia for eight years until 2018, I am incredibly passionate about Spain, the people and the culture. Yet there is a dark side to the land of the toro which is their track record on animal abuse, Let’s face it, bullfighting has to be the ugliest and most barbaric aspect of Spanish culture.

Spain is known as the land of the toro (which translates to bull) as a nod to the long history of bullfighting as a national sport. Bullfighting is known as 'corrida de toros' that can literally be translated to 'running of bulls.'

Indeed, Pamplona, one of the major cities on the French Camino de Santiago, holds the yearly Fiesta de San Fermin, a week-long festival, where ordinary men who have drank too much vino run with the bulls through the medieval streets of the city until the small hours of the morning. Many are injured, but it is the bulls that are slaughtered at the end.

The origins of bullfighting can be traced back to prehistoric times when the slaughtering of bulls played an important part in religious ceremonies. Moving through the ages, bullfighting became a popular sport which hasn’t changed much in 250 years.

In current times, bullfighting is held in a 'plaza de toros' (bull ring) during the bullfighting season that runs from April until September.

The participants of bullfighting are known as Toreros or Matadors and the rules of the game are simple. The bullfighter must kill the bull with a sword while showing off his fighting skills. The kill isn’t meant to be instantaneous or painless, the whole point is for the bullfighter to put on a show for the willing spectators. No bull escapes with their life. Each and every bull is slaughter to death in front of a crowd of thousands.

Bullfighting isn’t a sport, my friends. Bullfighting is animal torture.

While bullfighting has been outlawed in some towns and cities due to it’s barbaric nature and the ill-treatment of the bulls, this archaic and brutal blood sport that belongs in prehistoric times is still sanctioned by the Spanish government and continues on in most parts.

Which is why I am so glad to see our Spanish friends rise up in indignation at such a request from the bullfighting associations. Many Spaniards are taking to social media posting selfies where they hold placards demanding 'more health workers, less bullfighters'. As the number of cases of coronavirus infections in the country continues to increase, Spain’s healthcare system needs all the help it can get at the moment.

Indeed, many are asking that the government stop any existing payments to subsidies the sport and reallocate funds to the health service.

Even before the current crisis, the popularity of this cruel sport has been on the wane for years. The rise of the citizens to protest might just be the final nail in the coffin of a sport that belongs in prehistoric times.

Let's hope so, my friends. Let’s hope that the coronavirus puts an end to this barbaric blood sport, once and for all.

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