British expats and locals call for cancellation of Marbella bullfight: petition by animal rights activists gathers 25,000 signatures in just four days

MORE than 25,000 expats and locals have signed a petition demanding the cancellation of this weekend’s bullfight in Marbella.

World-famous matadors including Roca Rey, Morante de la Puebla and Jose Maria Manzanares will descend on the iconic Plaza de Toros on June 8.

According to the municipality, this “spectacular” event will “reinaugurate” the city’s bullfighting tradition.

The celebration, which includes a bullfight, or corrida, will coincide with the 60th anniversary of the construction of the arena.

However, the event angered animal rights activists as well as many expats and locals.

A petition calling for the event to be canceled has now exceeded 25,000 signatures since it was launched just four days ago.

Marbella councilors pose in front of the poster for the next bullfighting event (Twitter/Aytomarbella)

The petition calls on Mayor María Angeles Muñoz to immediately end bullfighting and permanently ban bullfighting in Marbella.

“We were shocked and horrified to learn that a bullfight was taking place in the old Marbella bullring,” said a representative of Marbella Against Bullfighting, the group behind the petition.

“After nine years without bullfighting in Marbella, this is a huge step backwards for Marbella and Spain.

“The bullring has been used to host concerts in recent years, so we really thought bullfighting was a thing of the past.”

They added: “Marbella is a beautiful and cosmopolitan city, loved by locals and international visitors alike. Why would our mayor want to take the city back to the past and organize a cruel and bloody massacre of an animal for entertainment? »

The bullfight sparked outrage among many locals who had no idea he was returning to Marbella and were quick to add their support to the petition.

More than a hundred cities in Spain have now banned bullfighting. Many arenas are now converted, young Spaniards having largely turned their backs on tradition.

“Our opinion at AIMS is that bullfighting is a barbaric practice and should be banned,” said Elise Dunweber, co-founder of AIMS (Animals In Marbella Sanctuary).

“Our vision of Spanish culture lies in art, literature, music and cuisine. Killing animals for entertainment is not a culture, of course torture. A new survey by CAS International shows that most people in European bullfighting countries are against this harmful tradition and want bullfighting to be banned.

“Please help us by signing our petition to end this practice and support our call to end the fighting.”

Lorraine and Chris Platt, co-founders of the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation (CAWF) commented: “We have written to the Mayor as co-founders of CAWF and urged that the planned bullfight in Marbella be canceled and replaces the cruel bullfight. show with a human alternative that does not involve animals.

“Bullfights subject bulls to enormous suffering. It is unacceptable to subject sentient animals to such a long and painful death, in the name of an outdated ‘sport’ that should be relegated to the history books.”

The petition can be viewed here.