Ahead of the Running of the Bulls and 60 subsequent bullfights at the San Fermín festival in Pamplona, Spain, animal advocates from PETA entities and Spanish animal protection group AnimaNaturalis joined forces to protest these bloody spectacles. Animal allies recreated the Pietà – Michelangelo’s depiction of the Virgin Mary cradling the body of Jesus Christ – but instead of Jesus, she was mourning a “dead bull” as dozens of other “bloody bulls” lay lifeless in a pile around them, wearing nothing but black underwear, and “horns”:

Bullfighting Is Unchristian

San Fermín festival celebrates the life and legacy of Pamplona’s first bishop and patron saint, Saint Fermín. But the horrific killing of bulls during this week-long event is incompatible with Christian teachings of mercy and kindness.

The doctrine of the Catholic Church clearly states that we should not “cause animals to suffer or die needlessly”. As Pope Francis declared in the 2015 Laudato si’, “Every act of cruelty towards any creature is ‘contrary to human dignity’.” Yet, the Catholic Church’s ties to the ritualised execution of bulls make a mockery of Christ’s teachings of kindness and compassion.

San Fermin, is one of thousands of bullfighting festivals held in honour of Catholic saints in Spain every year, during which tens of thousands of bulls are slaughtered.

What Happens in Pamplona?

During the San Fermín festival in Pamplona, the bulls are chased through the city streets, where they risk crashing into barriers and walls, falling and breaking their legs, or colliding with each other.

Many people who attend this cruel spectacle don’t realise that the same bulls are tortured to death in the bullring later the same day.

In the bullring, men taunt and stab each bull with a lance and several harpoon-like banderillas before the matador stabs the exhausted animal with a sword. A knife is then used to cut his spinal cord.

The bull may be paralysed but still conscious as his ears or tail are cut off and presented to the matador as a trophy and his body is dragged from the arena.

Warnings to Australian Travellers

Aussies make up a disproportionately large percentage of the foreign tourists who pack in as panicked bulls slip on cobblestone streets and are forced to run uphill for almost 900 metres while being chased and poked by jeering crowds.

In addition to the cruelty to animals, the event harms human participants. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade warns that taking part in the Running of the Bulls is dangerous. “Every year, people are badly injured and sometimes killed. People are also killed or badly injured jumping from fountains during the festivities in Pamplona.”

How to Help Bulls

If you are travelling to Spain, enjoy the art, beaches, breathtaking architecture and views, castles, flamenco dances, hikes, live music, parks, plazas, nightlife, soccer games, and sunsets. Go on tours, meet locals, visit museums and markets, and try vegan pinchos, tapas, sangria, and sorbet. Just remember: Cruelty is not a part of culture worth preserving.

And please sign the petition to Pope Leo XIV, the head of the Catholic Church, urging him to end the Church’s complicity in bullfighting – a blood sport that has no place in Christian celebrations.