One Voice against bullfighting: coordinated action in thirteen regions!

Bullfighting is considered a traditional spectacle where violence is trivialized. These torture sessions stimulate the aficionados in the audience, among whose ranks are even children, brought by their parents to witness these bloody scenes. These “shows” should constitute acts of cruelty and serious animal abuse, and therefore be punishable under the penal code. However, they benefit from an exemption in the regions where they take place, as they are, according to French law, part of a “continuous and uninterrupted” local tradition.

Whether on foot, on horseback or Portuguese-style, bullfights always torture and kill bulls in public or behind the scenes. There are several types: bécéradas with 2-year-old calves, novilladas with 3-year-old calves, and corridas with 4-year-old bulls. These are all very young individuals who are sacrificed in public. When we investigated bullfighting schools for children in 2012 and 2019, we saw adults forcing frightened children to take part in the unspeakable, and very young bulls put to death by teenagers.

What’s normal about killing an animal or watching them being killed? Bullfighting clearly contributes to the trivialization of violence. Far from being sport or art, these practices are abominable, and we demand that they be banned throughout France, without exception, rather than subsidized by town halls in search of local entertainment.

• Videos and petition (supported by our partners) on our 2019 Nîmes bullfighting school investigation website
• Our 2012 “Toreros in the making” investigation
• Our 2009 report

Events:

Please check the dates, times and venues on the day on the corresponding Facebook event, which will be updated, as sometimes prefectures change them at the last minute.