"If you holiday in Spain this year, please don’t attend a bullfight" - Read John Fitzgerald's Letter to the Editor in today's Irish Independent...

Tourists can enjoy Spain but withbout the horrible cruelty of bullfighting
Letter, Irish Independent: August 28th 2023
 
Whatever about climate change and forest fires, many Irish people look forward each year to a holiday in the sun, and Spain is at the top of their list of options.

Understandably, because it’s a beautiful country and its people are wonderful.

But not everything about it is so nice. The bullfighting season is in full swing and continues until mid-October. The traditional image of the bullfight is of a brave man, the Matador, nimbly dodging a charging bovine, swishing his cape and putting his life on the line to entertain.

The truth is very different. Before it enters the ring the bull has Vaseline rubbed into its eyes to impair vision and is beaten over the kidneys to weaken it further. And the contest is not just between a bull and a daintily-dressed swashbuckling fellow who wouldn’t look out of place in a comic opera.

The bull is stabbed repeatedly by horsemen with razor sharp lances, inflicting unbearable pain on an animal already weakened from extreme disorientation resulting from its earlier “softening up” treatment.

The matador can afford to take some risks, faced as he is by an animal that is already close to collapse. Then, when he has extracted sufficient entertainment value from his prancing around the ring, taunting the bull and eliciting cheers from the baying fans, this “brave “ man pushes sword down between the shoulder blades of the pain-racked bull.

If you opt to enjoy a holiday in Spain this year, please don’t attend a bullfight. There are enough tourists attending bullfights just once in their lives to keep the vile practice alive. A majority of Spaniards now want bullfighting banned, but it thrives on “curiosity tourism".

So, enjoy the sun, but skip the cruelty!

John Fitzgerald,
Callan, Co. Kilkenny
 
ACTION ALERT

Don't attend bullfights or visit bullfighting museums.

Join us in urging online travel agency Expedia to stop encouraging tourists to visit bullrings. Contact Expedia's CEO and urge him to show compassion and remove all references to bullfighting and bullfighting museums from the company's website.

Peter M. Kern
CEO Expedia
pkern@expedia.com
Twitter: @Expedia 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/expedia/