|
A dozen animal rights
activists have run naked through the streets of the
Spanish city of Pamplona to protest against the annual
running of the bulls fiesta.
Pamplona's nine-day San Fermin festival, depicted in
Ernest Hemmingway's 1927 novel "Fiesta", is famous for its
morning bull runs -- where scores of young men risk their
lives in a three-minute adrenaline-fuelled dash from six
fighting bulls.
Their bodies painted with slogans like "let bulls die in
peace", the young activists from across Europe and the
United States stopped traffic and drew curious crowds with
a call to ban bullfighting from the festival.
"We are trying to draw
attention to the suffering of the bulls during this run. They
have no choice but to be here, and we do," Kristie Phelps,
wearing a pair of plastic horns, said on Friday.
"While I certainly feel uncomfortable doing this, it is nothing
compared with the suffering felt by the bulls, when they run
through the slippery streets before being slaughtered in a
ring," said Phelps, a tall blonde who has also shed her clothes
to campaign for vegetarianism and circus animals' rights. |
One of a dozen animal rights
activists walking naked through the streets of Pamplona to
protest against Sunday's fiesta. |
Although the protest followed the same course as the bull runs
through the cobbled streets of old Pamplona, half of the
participants in the "Human Race", as organisers dubbed it, were
women -- unlike the all male San Fermin stampede.
The protesters say they will make the naked romp an annual event
to create an alternative to Pamplona's historic and hugely
popular bull run, which starts on Sunday.
Bullfighting arouses strong passions in Spain - both among
aficionados, many of whom live in the southern region of
Andalusia, and campaigners who claim the ritual is barbaric.
Many residents and tourists applauded the bravery of the
protest, but not all Spaniards were sympathetic.
"You should let the bulls loose, then you'd see them run," said
Jose Ignacio, a 58-year-old retiree.
"Bullfighting is just another form of entertainment. Footballers
also risk injury when they play. I don't know why they are
making such a fuss." |
