In Spain, nearly 20,000 popular festivals with bulls, cows and heifers take place every year, an alarmingly high figure considering the animal suffering involved. Through an investigation conducted by AnimaNaturalis and CAS International, we discovered these festivals are concentrated in just 1,820 municipalities nationwide. This reveals a concerning pattern: throughout Spain, only 22% of municipalities organize this type of spectacle, with an average population of 1,000 inhabitants, indicating they predominate in small towns where traditions persist more strongly, often without adequate public scrutiny or proper controls.
These events are typically free for attendees, as they're usually organized by the town councils themselves using money from municipal budgets allocated to culture or festivals. We all pay for this through our taxes, often without citizens' explicit knowledge about the final destination of these funds. Through our intensive investigation, we uncovered how much public money is allocated to maintain and finance popular bull festivals.
Based on transparency laws, through each town council's electronic headquarters website, we meticulously contacted all 1,820 municipalities that organize popular bull festivals, requesting budget breakdowns. After rigorous analysis of responses, we estimated a total of €42 million in 2019 allocated for 17,708 festivals. This public investment shows a worrying trend, as the figure increases slightly almost every year, consolidating a practice facing growing social opposition.
For this documentary work, we specifically visited Sant Jaume d'Enveja (Tarragona), one of the Catalan municipalities organizing the most bull festivals throughout the year, serving as a paradigmatic example of how these traditions remain active in various regions. Our on-site presence allowed us to capture images and testimonies reflecting the harsh reality of these events.
During our observation, we witnessed firsthand the constant harassment and systematic mockery animals endure, along with repeated abusive behavior toward cows. This mistreatment leads to all kinds of accidents, as they're deliberately incited to charge against metal bars or climb and jump obstacles they're physiologically unprepared for, causing injuries and extreme stress evident in their desperate movements.
This predominantly occurs during the hottest summer months when temperatures reach dangerous levels, making it common to see exhausted heifers suffering from heat, dehydration and physical exhaustion, or bulls that can no longer continue, collapsing in the sand while the crowd keeps cheering. Weather conditions significantly worsen the suffering of these sensitive beings.
These animals are naturally highly sensitive and need the protection of their group or herd to feel secure in a familiar environment. However, during these festivals they're abruptly separated from their family environment and taken to a strange arena where they can't escape, surrounded by violent stimuli, deafening noises and unexpected movements, causing a state of disorientation, stress, anxiety, fear and anguish manifested through escape attempts and defensive behaviors. The psychological trauma is as evident as the physical.
When accidents occur that seriously compromise an animal's physical integrity, like fractures or deep wounds, bullfighting enthusiasts typically try by all means to prevent documentation of the incident, aware of the negative impact its dissemination could have. Sometimes this obstruction includes coercion, verbal threats and even physical violence toward our documentation teams, creating an intimidating atmosphere aimed at silencing evidence of mistreatment.
Let's End Cruel Festivals!
Despite constant obstacles and risky situations we face in the field, we're determined to continue exposing the reality some sectors prefer to keep hidden behind the veil of tradition. Our commitment to truth and animal welfare is unwavering.
We're currently conducting the largest and most thorough investigation ever undertaken into the approximately 20,000 cruel animal festivals held year after year in Spain, which unfortunately are increasing according to our comparative records. We want to expose the systematic abuse hidden in thousands of towns' festivals and traditions, providing irrefutable data to drive the legislative and social change needed to eradicate these practices.
Livestock farms dedicated to bullfighting see the future of traditional bullfights at risk, as they receive diminishing social support, especially among younger generations. Facing this decline, they view popular festivals as a growing, more profitable and less regulated business. We want to put an end to all forms of cruel festivals where animals are used as entertainment objects. Will you help us in this fight for ethics and respect toward living beings? Your support is crucial to continue documenting, denouncing and pushing for real change.
