Anti-bullfight protesters want Palma to be declared bullfight free

PALMA
PALMA could become a bullfighting free city if the Councilor for Social Welfare Eberhard Grosske can convince Palma Mayor, Aina Calvo, to table the motion.

The issue of bullfights being held in the Majorcan capital is a burning issue.
Last week, there was an anti bull fight protest staged outside the city's bullring and yesterday six animal welfare activists staged a vivid protest outside the City hall.

Nearly naked, splattered in red paint and “stabbed” by “banderillas” used to stab the bulls, the protest was mounted in order to increase public awareness of the “torture” the anti-bullfight movement claims the animals are made to suffer.

According to the spokesperson for the animal rights and anti bullfighting organisation AnimaNaturalis, Aida Gascon, the six protesters represented the six bulls which would have been killed in last night's bullfight in Palma. “We want the public to put themselves in the bulls' skins for a moment and think about their feelings towards bullfighting,” she said. Later, members of the organisation handed out pamphlets explaining their campaign and the plight of bulls in Spain in English, Russian, Spanish and Japanese to tourists attending yesterday's bullfight.

Gascon said that the pamphlets also explained what a bullfight “really is.” “Many holiday makers are conned into going to the bullfights by travel agents claiming that the event is a traditional Spanish festival,” she said. Eberhard Grosske announced yesterday that he intends to address the issue with the Mayor Aina Calvo and campaign for bullfighting to be banned in Palma.