Supporters of a controversial bull-running festival in Spain have skirmished with animal rights activists and vowed to preserve their traditions despite respecting a recent ban that prohibits the spearing to death of the animal at the event’s climax.
On Tuesday morning, the town of Tordesillas in Valladolid province broke with centuries of history by allowing a five-year-old bull called Pelado to run through its streets and out into a meadow without being lanced by horse riders.
In an attempt to mark the break from the event’s bloody past, the name was changed from Toro de la Vega (bull of the meadow) to Toro de la Peña, named for the town’s patron saint, Nuestra Señora la Virgen de la Peña, (the Virgin Mary).
But while the prohibition on lancing was observed, the decision by the regional government of Castile and León has proved deeply unpopular among local people.
An hour before Pelado was set loose, demonstrators marched through the town carrying a large banner that read: “Tordesillas isn’t giving in.”
The town’s mayor, José Antonio Gónzalez Poncela, said the ban had robbed its people of one of the strongest symbols of their identity, “ripped out our spine” and “left us orphaned”.
Animal rights groups had been concerned that the ban would be ignored. The Humane Society International said it was also worried the bull would “still endure great distress for public entertainment”.
However, despite minor altercations between some supporters and animal rights activists, rain and a heavy police presence ensured the fiesta passed off without significant trouble. Pelado, who weighs 640kg, was taken to a local corral after the chase.
The festival took place three days after thousands of people took the streets of central Madrid to demand a total ban on bullfighting and what the Party Against the Ill-Treatment of Animals calls “all other bloody spectacles”.