Revelers spray wine as they enjoy before the “Chupinazo” (start rocket) launch that marks the kickoff at noon sharp of the San Fermin Festival, in front of the Town Hall of Pamplona, northern Spain, on July 6, 2015.
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PETA Director Mimi Bekhechi said: “PETA is calling on Spain to end its widely condemned Running of the Bulls event- and, with it, the horrific suffering and abuse of bulls”.
The protesters, some of whom wore bull horns, lay on the ground outside the entrance to the Pamplona bullring which hosts the famous Running of the bulls during the San Fermin festival.
Most in the crowd waved red neckerchiefs, which along with white shirts and pants form the traditional festival clothing.
Reuters/Heino KalisA bull chasing revelers jumps into the sea during the “Bous a la Mar” festival in the eastern Spanish coastal town of Denia, Spain. The tourism industry highlights the event’s economic benefits for the city.
Each morning this week, people will gather to run with the bulls as they race down the street, from pen to bullring, where there will be bullfights the rest of the day.
The nine-day, street-partying fiesta was immortalized in Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 novel “The Sun Also Rises” and attracts thousands of foreign tourists.
A year ago just over 17,000 people joined the festival’s eight daily bull runs with over half of them, 56 percent, coming from overseas, according to Pamplona city hall.
In addition to the cruelty against animals, every year dozens of people are injured or even killed during the bull running. Past year a total of 530 people were hospitalized, two with life-threatening injuries.
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“It is a unique festival”, the head of the association’s data department, Jorge Fernandez, told AFP, adding that revellers came from the world over right from the United States to Australia.
