Bullfighting Is a Sin: ‘Virgin Mary’ and ‘Dead Bulls’ Make Bloody Plea in Pamplona

Ahead of the Running of the Bulls and 60 subsequent bullfights at the San Fermín festival in Pamplona, Spain, animal advocates from PETA 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 a Sin

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 Fermin 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.
Read more about the fate of the bulls exploited at Pamplona’s San Fermín festival:

What Happens to Bulls in Pamplona

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Torture, Not Tradition

More than 125 Spanish towns and cities have rejected the torment and slaughter of bulls for entertainment, but in Pamplona, this cruel spectacle continues.

PETA has previously offered Pamplona’s mayor €298,000 to cancel the Running of the Bulls – an offer that still stands.

Stay Away from the San Fermin Festival

In Pamplona or elsewhere, never attend a bullfight. Tourism is one of the industry’s main excuses for carrying on with this abhorrent bloodbath. Even though most visitors who witness the cruelty of a bullfight never, ever want to see one again, by that point, the money has been paid and the damage done.

Do not run with the bulls. Since all bulls who are chased are eventually stabbed in the bullring, participating in this cruel spectacle supports the bullfighting industry.

Bulls Need Your Help

Sign our petition to the mayor of Pamplona urging him to end cruel Running of the Bulls and the barbaric bullfights now:

Sign Now!

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Please also urge the Pope to cut the church’s ties to unholy bullfights:

Take Action!