Tens of thousands of people from all parts of Spain marched through the center of the Spanish capital of Madrid on Saturday to demand an end to the tradition of bullfighting, local media reported.
The march was organized by 17 different animal rights organizations under the banner "Bullfighting is violence and you can stop it."
Animals rights activists display pictures and banners during a protest against bullfighting in Madrid. /VCG Photo
Demonstrators highlighted that the government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has lowered sales tax on tickets to bullfights to 10 percent, while it remains at 21 percent for cinema tickets. The protests also asked for a change of law to allow the mistreatment of animals to become a penal offense.
The spokesperson of the "Bullfighting is violence" platform, Laura Gonzalo, said in Madrid that "it is time for all of society to say enough is enough," while another organization spokesman, Jose Enrique Zaldivar explained it was time that bullfighting be "stopped being an exception to the laws of animal cruelty."
Spanish matador Jose Maria Manzanares performs a pass on a bull during a bullfight at the Maestranza bullring, in Sevilla on May 5, 2017. /VCG Photo
In 2010, the Catalan government voted to ban deadly bullfighting in the northeast region, but last year Spain's top court overturned that decision, judging that it was part of Spain's cultural heritage.
The bullfighting tradition has drawn increasing controversy and protests around Spain in recent years, with demonstrators turning up and taking to Twitter to denounce what they feel is a brutal, anachronistic event. Saturday's protest followed a similar one in Madrid last September.
(Source: Xinhua, AFP)
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