mobilization “Heritage” and “cultural wealth” for some, “immoral” and “barbarism” for others. Supporters and opponents of bullfighting have mobilized in several cities in France to make their voices heard
Demonstrators during the mobilization of the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) against bullfighting (or corrida), in Paris, on November 19, 2022. – AFP
“Yes “ bullfight” against “bullfighting basta”: defenders and opponents of bullfighting mobilized on Saturday at the across France, before a vote by the National Assembly on a bill aimed at abolish this practice.
From Dax to; Béziers via Auch or Bayonne, towns with a bullfighting tradition, supporters of bullfighting, supported by many elected officials from all sides, made themselves heard to defend their “heritage” and their “cultural richness” facing the bill proposed by Aymeric Caron, deputy; of Paris of the Ecological Revolution for the Living (REV) party affiliated with to LFI. Its examination is scheduled for Thursday in the hemicycle after its rejection on Wednesday in committee.
Under umbrellas pasted with posters “#YES to; the bullfight” nearly a thousand people (800 according to the police, 1,500 according to the organizers) marched. from the town hall of Dax to’’ the sub-prefecture to submit a motion, common to bullfighting towns, addressed to the President of the Republic. “There is no one way to live in this country” Paris which must impose itself everywhere. France is a mosaic of cultures that must be respected,” Senator Éric Kerrouche (PS) in front of local peñas (bullfighting associations).
“No one forces anyone to going to see a bullfight,” to Mont-de-Marsan, where about 300 people were gathered, Lionel Pinsolle, president of the Bullfighting Circle of Tyrosse. After the bullfight, he assures, “ hunting, at fishing, force-feeding (ducks with foie gras, editor’s note)”.
““Animalist totalitarianism”
“Stop animalistic totalitarianism,” said a sign in the crowd. For the mayor of the Landes village of Saint-Perdon (1,700 inhabitants) Jean-Louis Darrieutort, “bullfighting maintains a real social, intergenerational link in the villages” and constitutes an economic sector, from breeding to farming. the organization of festivals, which must be protected. À Auch (Gers), there were 250 gathered in front of the statue of d’Artagnan, including the deputies Jean-René Cazeneuve (Renaissance) and David Taupiac (PS).
Present in the rally at; Bayonne, with some 350 aficionados, the French bullfighter Julien Lescarret denounced “an obscurantism of extremes” and asked the withdrawal of the bill with a scathing “Leave us alone”, cheered.
Aymeric Caron has crystallized; discontent: “deputy“ disinterested parisian boho of our local identities” for the mayor of Dax Julien Dubois, or “great defender of mosquitoes and rats” for Bernard Mula, president of the Biterrois bullfighting clubs, present at the rally in Béziers.
““”Fuck the corrida”
In several cities, opponents of bullfighting have recreated a related show to death to say, as in agrave; Lyon where they were about fifty according to the prefecture of the Rhône, that “one cannot have fun around a grave”. À Paris, in front of nearly 200 activists from a dozen animalist associations and parties, four activists carrying horns, squatting and with their heads bowed, supervised a young woman disguised as a bullfighter and carrying real banderillas.
À Montpellier, about twenty members of the Committee; radical anti-bullfighting (CRAC) have installed a crime scene, surrounded by yellow tape, with fake blood on the ground, harpoons, banderillas and three fake bags of corpses. “I don’t need to see a bullfight to know what is going on there, just as you don’t need to rape to know that ç has caused victims,” clarified Cyril Vaucelle, in charge of mission at CRAC. “The animal feels pain and has a terrible time. It’s not moral,” to AFP to Lyon Alexandre Godard, president of the local collective for animal protection (CPA), denouncing the fact that “63 French cities” always organize bullfights.
À Lille, there were around sixty opponents, including Margaux Verdier, who defined herself as “vegan and antispeciesist” and wearing a “fuck la corrida”t-shirt. “There are many of us to think that it’s crazy to believe that bullfighting is a culture, it’s barbarism, torture”, this TV consultant was indignant. Demonstrations by opponents were announced this weekend in around forty cities.