Protest against bullfighting before the Palma bullfight

PalmaDozens of people gathered this Thursday afternoon in front of the Palma bullring to denounce animal abuse and demand an end to bullfights. The protest, called by Satya Animal with the support of other animal rights groups, took place a few hours before a new bullfight featuring bullfighters Diego Ventura, Morante de la Puebla, and Sebastián Castella.

The demonstrators displayed banners and shouted slogans against bullfighting, which they consider a practice based on animal suffering incompatible with current sensitivity. In addition to demanding the prohibition of these shows, they also denounced that minors are still allowed to attend bullrings and criticized the social normalization of these types of events.

The mobilization is part of a sustained campaign by animal rights groups in the Balearic Islands, who have already staged several protests this year coinciding with the bullfighting season. In June, activists also gathered in front of the Inca bullring to reject the return of bullfights to the municipality after several years without a bullfighting program. During that protest, the organizations denounced that these shows "do not represent Mallorcan society" and called on institutions to stop facilitating their celebration.

Palma has also been the scene of similar mobilizations in previous seasons. Every summer, coinciding with the main bullfighting events, animal rights groups gather in front of the bullring to show their rejection of an activity they consider based on violence against animals. On several occasions, they have called on the Parliament and the Balearic Government to promote legislative changes that allow progress towards the definitive prohibition of bullfighting.

The organizations recall that the Balearic Islands already tried to limit bullfights with the well-known "toros a la balear" law, approved in 2017, which prohibited killing animals in the bullring and restricted various aspects of the show. However, a large part of that law was subsequently annulled by the Constitutional Court, considering that it encroached on state competencies.

For this reason, the collectives insist that the only solution is a state-level legal reform that definitively puts an end to bullfights. They also advocate for a leisure and culture model that, they assure, is compatible with animal welfare and reject that public resources continue to be allocated, directly or indirectly, to maintain these types of shows.