Lydia Spencer-Elliott
PROTESTS are expected to erupt at the Plaza de toros de Estepona today before a controversial bull fight begins at 7pm.
Activist group Estepona Antitaurina have collected over seven thousand signatures in opposition to the spectacle.
The National Association for the Defense of Animals (NAFA) has claimed the sport is being increasingly rejected by society.
“As well as the cruelty we don’t understand how the event is going ahead during the coronavirus pandemic,” said protestor Eveline Taelemans.
“Every other festivity has been cancelled and it’s using public money. It’s an outrage,” she said.
Currently in Spain, bullfights receive funding from the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Autonomous communities, municipalities, the European Union (EU), and city/town councils.
On Thursday July 30 the mayor of Estepona Jose Urbano was spotted by protestors rubbing shoulders in the bull ring without a mask.
Spectators will be required to wear a mask during the show and have their temperature taken on arrival, however.
Bullfighting has been illegal in Catalunya since 2012 and is heavily protested in many areas of Spain.
