Animal Rights Campaign Targets ‘El Toro Embolado’ Festivals

THE animal rights group AnimaNaturalis has launched a new campaign to investigate the suffering of bulls in the ‘Embolado’ festivals where they are forced to run whilst being controlled by ropes.

The activists from the NGO are collecting signatures to show how many of the public are against animal cruelty of this kind and cut off the funding that these festivals receive.

The websites FiestasCrueles.org and bloodfiestas.org in English have been launched to promote action to stop these blood sports. They ask that anyone with any information or photos relevant to the Blood Fiestas be sent via the email account provided on the website.

There are more than 18,000 Spanish festivals involving cruelty to animals per year according to the AnimaNaturalis data. The only places to still participate in the Embolado festivals are Castellon, Alicante, Valencia, Tarragona and some areas near Teruel and Zaragoza.

The AnimaNaturalis group is famous for its dramatic protests which include several ‘sin piel’ demonstrations where people get naked and cover themselves in fake blood.